Whether you’re a big business or a small business, you need to get the word out, particularly in this tough economic time.

This is Derek Halpern’s one-stop source for all Twitter resources that relate specifically to business. You will learn how people acquire customers and grow their business using Twitter. Additionally, you will see a few examples of large companies who use Twitter effectively.

• How and Why to Use Twitter for Small Business | Small Biz Trends
• 10 Small Business People to Follow on Twitter | The Society for Word of Mouth
• How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business | Copyblogger
• 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business | Chris Brogan
• How to Use Twitter for Your Business the Right Way | Twitip
  
• 5 Ways to Acquire Customers on Twitter | Shoemoney
• Tweeting for Companies 101 | Horse Pig Cow
• Ten Ways to Use Twitter to Promote Your Business | Business Zone
• 16 Examples of Huge Brands Using Twitter for Business | Search Engine Journal
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Promoting Your Business on Twitter | Sparkplugging
• 7 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Twitter’s Success | Blog of Mr. Tweet

So how do you promote yourself in a professional and sophisticated way?

One way is to deliver something of value.  ( Your ideas and professional expertise, of course.)  And one of the very best ways to do this today is using Twitter to tweet your own horn.

As Ron Miller points out: Your Business Needs to Pay Attention to Twitter

Over the past year or so, Twitter has become a full-blown communications phenomenon. For those of you who don’t follow every social networking trend. Twitter is a micro-blogging site where you enter your thoughts, whatever they may be, in 140 or characters or less. Experts say if you aren’t paying attention to Twitter, your business may be missing out on more than you think…

I’m a recent convert to using Twitter and am just trying now to set up a system myself to use it in a strategic way.

So let me turn to an expert, Michael Stelzner, and give you what I think is a stunning and very compelling  example which Michael used in How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business on practical ways to use Twitter. Trust when we say your tweets can capture the attention and interest of top level people in your field, so best to learn how to do it:

“The Twitter Plan

Cindy King, an international sales specialist, saw a huge boost in business inquires by implementing a strategic Twitter plan.

“Following the right people on Twitter was key. There are some people very gifted at building relationships on Twitter. As I followed these online community builders, I realized that some of them are also excellent direct response copywriters. They get their Twitter followers to take action,” said King.

“Light bulbs went off, and I spent a weekend putting together a tweet marketing plan and entered in 6 weeks worth of tweets, 5 a day, using TweetLater. I used a mindmap, created categories, varied times on tweets and used BUDurls so I could track results and improve my tweet plan the next time around. That was a month ago,” explained King.

When King finds a spare minute between projects, she logs into Twitter and watches what folks are talking about. When she Tweets, about 90 percent of the time she presents useful information and resources to her followers. The remaining tweets are surveys and questions. Following this strategy, King saw an 800 percent increase in inquiries about her business after she setup her Twitter campaign.”

And another example:

“Getting In Front of High Profile People

B2B copywriter Terri Rylander took a much different approach. At first she was very skeptical of Twitter. “I looked at it but couldn’t figure out why people would continually send out messages about the size of a text message, unless they were a teenager. Twitter was for sending updates they said. I don’t have time for updates, and besides, who would care?” said Rylander.

She later came across a peer in her industry that was using Twitter and suggested Rylander follow her on Twitter. “That’s when I discovered Twitter as a business tool. I’ve been in my particular niche for over 10 years and know who the players are (though they don’t know me). When I checked who she was following on Twitter, there they all were! It read like a “Who’s Who” list.”

Rylander joined Twitter and began following and interacting with the people she respected. “Other than a cold call on the phone or e-mail, I would never have the chance to get my name in front of vendors, industry analysts, and industry experts. I’ve had a number of Twitter conversations that have also led to personal conversations.”

To stay top of mind with experts, she offers interesting links, responds to tweets, and posts her thoughts for conversation at least a few times a day.”

Michael Stelzner also offers a number of very useful tools for your Twitter Toolkit, and I suggest you go to How to Use Twitter to Grow Your Business to collect them all.  That’s what I’m going to do.

You can follow Michael here on Twitter .  When I get my Twitter plan up to speed, I’m going to ask you to follow me on Twitter also, and I’ll follow you.  Some of the Top Tweeters have 10,000 people following them.  But they all started with just a few.

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