Twitter is everywhere.  More and more people around the world are joining Twitter and finding it useful for connecting with friends, growing their business network and for learning.  I joined Twitter just over a week ago and I have already found it to be a useful tool.  I have connected with old friends that I hadn’t talked to in a long time, built some great new relationships, expanded my business reach, and discovered great articles and websites that my friends have shared with me.  You too can benefit from Twitter.

What is Twitter?

In its basic form Twitter is a unique social network that allows people to connect with very brief messages called “tweets”.  Each tweet can be no longer than 140 characters.  You can send a tweet to all of your “followers”, who are people who have selected to get your tweets.  Early on you’ll start with just a few followers, but that will grow to hundreds and even thousands of people as you build your network.  You can also send tweets directly to individuals within your network (kind of like a private email), or as replies to other people, both in public and in private.

Setting up with twitter is easy.  In fact you can do it in these 10 easy steps.

1. Register

Obviously the first step is to register with Twitter.  Simply visit http://www.twitter.com and click the “Get Started – Join” button.  Think for a minute before you register about what name you want to go by.  Do you want to use your real name?  Do you have a blog name that you want to go by?  For example, I go by successprof.   I could have gone by my real name, but I chose my blog name because that is the brand I want to build. One of my goals for being on twitter is building relationships around my brand.

2. Create a Bio

Take some time to fill out all the information in your settings area.  This will be your bio info.  As part of this section you will be given the option to protect your updates.  If you are looking to build your network, DO NOT check this box.  Selecting this will limit who will see your updates.

3. Upload a Photo

Make sure you upload your photo right away.  This will make you seem more real and add personality to your tweets.  Most of the time only a small image will be shown so make sure that your photo is primarily a head shot.  Also be sure your photo looks professional so as to attract the type of people you would like to meet.

4. Find an Add-on for Firefox

If you are using Firefox as your web browser (and I recommend you do!) then getting a Firefox add-on for Twitter will be useful.  There are many Twitter add-ons.  Generally they allow you to get Twitter updates to show up directly within your browser and allow you to update your Twitter feed easily and smoothly.  You can browse through the add-ons here.

5. Get Tweet Deck

The best way to use Twitter is to have Tweet Deck.  Tweet Deck is a software program that allows you to follow Twitter updates easily and quickly. It categorizes them in to replies, direct messages, and all tweets.  It notifies you when new tweets come in and makes them all simple to follow.  You will likely want to turn off the notifications so you can focus more on your work, but when you have time to review the twitter updates this program will save you lots of time.

6. Add a personalized background.

While those with programming experience or lots of time can develop very amazing backgrounds for their Twitter profile, it is also very easy to add a simple personalized background in just a few minutes.  Visit http://www.twitbacks.com/ and you can personalize your background in just a couple of minutes.

7. Start meeting people in areas of interest

Now it’s time to start meeting people.  You do this by “following” people of interest.  Initially look for people who have similar interests to you and to your business.  A good place to start is with Twitter’s Search function. There are a number of Twitter directories you can use to help find people of interest.   Another good place to start is by following bloggers whose blogs you read.  You can follow me here: @successprof.  A good place to start is with Twittip’s 10 Must-Follow People. Once your base of followers grows you can a service called Mr. Tweet to recommend other like-minded people for you to follow.

8. Expand your network

Once you are following a number of people of interest you can find more people of interest by going through the followers lists of some of the people you follow.  For example if you are interested in fitness and are following a top fitness blogger, you will find that the other people following her are also interested in fitness. Now you can go through her followers list looking for interesting people to follow.  A further benefit of following a lot of people is that many of them will also follow you, increasing the number of people who will read you tweets.

9. Contribute something of value.

If you want to grow your network and build relationships through twitter you need to know why people would want to follow you.  Ask yourself, what value can I add through my tweets?  This will be different for everyone.  I look to add value by sharing the personal development activities that I do, sharing interesting web sites that I come across, and giving updates about my blog posts.  The more valuable your tweets, the more followers you will have.

10. Reply to interesting tweets of others.

Finally, get involved in the conversation by replying to interesting tweets of others.  Look for ways to ask questions or answer questions that others have.  This will help you get to know other people and build relationships within your network.

Written by:
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
If you liked this article, leave a comment below, or subscribe by RSS!
If you are looking for a way to earn extra money, click here!

My wife and I recently entered into a fishing competition. A group of us entered the competition together.  We had two boats and five people: my wife and I, her father, our niece, and a neighbor.  We had two boats between us.

The first morning, my wife and I went in the boat with the neighbor. We didn’t know him, he didn’t know us. It was an eye opening morning, and it was NOT because of the fish! Instead, my wife and I were shocked to hear how this man spoke of his wife.  He continually complained about her, stating that he did all of the work and that “she doesn’t do anything”.

Certainly this man was out of line.  It reminded me of an important saying, “always speak well of people in their absence.” In other words, never speak negatively of someone behind their back.  Don’t gossip, don’t complain, only speak good things.  Speaking negatively of others when they are not present does not help anyone, it only causes hurt:

• You don’t look any better.  By speaking negatively about others when they are not there, those that hear you will view you more negatively.
• People will not trust you.  If you speak negatively about someone else, how do I know you won’t do the same to me?
• The person you are speaking of doesn’t look better. The words you say will have an effect on the person you are speaking about.  Their reputation will take a hit.  People will believe what you say, even if they inwardly ridicule you for saying it.

If instead, you do the opposite and speak good of others in their absence many good things will happen:

• You will look better.  People like to be around positive people and by speaking well of others you demonstrate your positive life outlook.
• You will feel better.  It always feels better to lift up others.  You may be tempted to speak down about someone so that you look superior to them, but that is rarely the true effect.
• People will trust you more.  These people will see how you speak highly of others, and believe that you may speak the same about them.
• You elevate the standing of the other person.  Not only do people trust you and think more highly of you, but your words have now elevated the stature of another person.  You are making a difference in their life.
• The other person will eventually hear about your kind words.  While I might not share negative comments made about someone, I’m more likely to share the positive comment, and even compliment the person in question about it.

In our fishing competition, the negative neighbor didn’t do any good to himself or his wife by speaking negatively about her.  A simple switch of attitude would have been helpful.  When others are absent, always speak well of them.

If you enjoyed this article, please Digg it! I would appreciate it!