Here are a few simple steps that can help you take Twitter to the next level in terms of business value.
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Start small.
Try it out and get a feel for Twitter. Despite what some people think, you do need to have a good idea of how to use twitter so that it is valuable to you or to the brand you represent.
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Be your own filter.
If you are serious about getting the best value out of Twitter, please edit yourself and not ask questions like “Why would anyone want to know what I had for dinner?”
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Don’t buy into the schemes to get hundreds of thousands of followers.
Chances are that unless you are a celebrity (weblebrity) or a mass media company or  corporation, those hundred of thousands of followers would be worthless to you.
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It is not about you.
Although Twitter asks you “what are you doing now?” the updates that actually get you more traction are the ones where you are giving back to the community in the form of valuable content. If you are the creator of that content then more power to you!
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Choose your retweets wisely.
Retweets are a currency on Twitter, but the more you give away (i.e. the only thing you have in your timeline are retweets) the more people will tune you out.
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Get personal (with work that is).
Twitter is dominated by folks where the personal vs. work boundaries are blurry to the extreme. People that tweet and are successful at it are often folks that love and are passionate about what they do. They are working all the time which is not a bad thing. For them 9 to 5 is such an outdated concept because work and personal matters are intertwined at all times.
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Seek support from Subject Matter Experts
If you are tweeting for a corporation, make sure you have solid support from the SMEs (subject matter experts). Marketing fluff can be identified by the community quicker than you can say @140tc
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Don’t treat Twitter like a push-only marketing channel.
Twitter is the intersection of community, real time news and timely and relevant information, not a set-up-and-forget marketing channel.
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Use DMs (Direct Messages) wisely.
A lot of times being public about a very early stage idea or business prospect can be a bad thing as people will not take you seriously. Even Scoble succumbed to the need for privacy via DMs.
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Most importantly – Be yourself
Chances are that if you are remotely interesting or if you command a niche market with your product or knowledge, you will connect with like minded business people and open new business opportunities or at the very least some valuable web resources to make you smarter.
Other useful TWITTER guides:
The Anatomy of a Tweet: Twitter Gets a Style Guide
The Journalist’s Guide to Twitter
Twitter Guide For Small Business
An Illustrated Guide To Using Twitter
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- Twitter: What B2B should learn from B2C on Twitter.
- Twitter Counter. Understated Twitter Goodness for your Blog
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Great Topic…
More then just business tactics… see tools like Twitter Pdf & Print outs http://www.seoflexmedia.com/html/twitter-business...
You have some great tips on using twitter and you have similar approach and techniques to me. I have just created and published a blog post called A Twitter Business Guide what do you think? http://www.zeta.net/blog/2009/10/twitter-tips-tri...
Hey Sam – for some reason I had not seen this comment. I am sorry about that. I like your post about twitter. Seems like a great resource for folks wanting to use twitter properly
My recent post Nestle: Don’t be Human, Even with Social Media. We will hate you for that
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