Social media is perfect platform for self-employed professionals who want to promote their skills, online pages and the services and products they have to offer. Master Twitter to take advantage of free self-marketing opportunities.
Learning to Use Twitter
The first step in using Twitter is understanding how to use it. The pages may look extremely confusing to novices, but Twitter is actually a very simple tool. Anyone can start using Twitter with an email address. Use this email as a username, create a password and the account is ready to be used.
Pick an easy-to-remember user name, one that preferably has something to do with the name of your business or your business name. Whatever username you pick will become your Twitter address when the at symbol, @, is placed before it and all spaces are eliminated. If your Twitter handle, for instance, is John Smith, the address becomes @JohnSmith.
Once the account is set up, it’s time to learn how to decipher the site. Each Twitter update is limited to 140 characters, which is just about enough room to create two short sentences. But Twitter users have their own code.
If you’re addressing another Twitter user, always use their proper username with the @ symbol in front of it. Popular phrases and topics are preceded by the hashtag, also known as a number sign, symbol: #. On the home page, a toolbar on the left-hand side will display a list of popular topics. Each blue topic is also a link. Click one to see all the tweets containing these phrases. Using hashtags helps other Twitter users find Twitterers who have similar interests.
Twitter Tips
Self-marketing through Twitter is completely free, but it can be time-consuming. Approach each day with a plan for your marketing, and know what you’re going to do, to save time. Master Twitter tips to make that promotion work.
- Find people to follow. It’s possible to “follow” every single Twitter user, and professionals with something to market should find as many people as possible to add to their list. Use Twitter’s search bar to look for phrases that relate to your business and discover like-minded users. Remember to include the hashtag symbol. For example, a freelance writer may look for phrases such as #writing, #reading and #blogging. The more people you follow, the more chances you have of getting followed back. More followers means you’re spreading your message to more people.
- Look for related professionals and companies. Follow companies and professionals that are related to your industry. Every Twitter user can look at everyone else’s followers. By linking yourself to related Twitter accounts in your industry, you expose yourself to more of your target audience. Twitter users who are following these accounts may notice you as well and begin following as a result.
- Get to marketing. Start Tweeting! The best way to gain followers and start promoting through the site is to start using Twitter. Create interesting Tweets that include links you want your followers to visit. Write Tweets using the popular trends and topics of the day to gain more followers and keep existing followers interested. Whenever possible, add something extra to Tweets: a little humor, suspense, intrigue, anything that may grab attention and compel users to take action.
Millions of people use Twitter, and every single one of them can become a potential customer when professionals use the site to market themselves. Find more self-marketing ideas on Twitter by simply looking at other professionals and learning what they do to keep their readers piqued. Set aside time during the day, several times a day, to spread the word through Twitter and start using this powerful platform to find more success with self-employment.
KC Morgan - KC Morgan has been the featured writer in Self-Employment since 2006, using personal experience to create guides to being self-employed.
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