An Introduction to Twitter - Don't Be Afraid of The Birds

So you've been looking at ways to promote your business, gain new customers and someone suggested Twitter! What the tubular bells is Twitter I hear some of you say.

Twitter is a micro blogging service that is free to use either online or via downloadable applications to your desktop or mobile. You're allowed up to 140 characters to tweet away to your heart's content about anything you see fit. The smart people keep it on topic (your niche market) and insightful, minimum fluff!

Friends on Twitter are called followers, the more followers you have the more you can socialise and enjoy tweeting.

Now if you're not one for airing your views in the public domain you might be a little afraid of all the tweets flying around the wide world of the web! The great thing with Twitter is that the community is a welcoming and friendly place.

That's not to say that there aren't spammers and trolls out there but on the whole you don't need to feel like Tippi Hedren

You can customise your profile page to include your avatar, your own wallpaper and a short description of what you do for a living with a link to your site. Make sure to include topics you tweet about. Your profile page can be as professional as @sonnygill:

or you can just use an avatar of your dog like Jonathan Ross!

One quick tip for newbies to Twitter, whatever you do when you start out, don't use any auto direct message replies for new followers! It bugs the hell out of most people, social media is for socialising and discussion, not automated tweets!

Social Media Marketing is not old skool 'who tweets loudest and most wins', think more Social Media Engagement and then you'll be part of the conversation.

Extra tips on the way soon including how best to use Twitter for your business!

Follow me @makakman or tweet this post.

What's your take on Twitter? Are you one of the people using auto direct messages?

Related post: 5 Great Twitter Tools