Twitter 101 Day 2: How will you use Twitter?

This is the second in a short series of posts designed to help newbies understand some social media strategy behind the professional use of Twitter.

Now that you’re set up on Twitter how will you use it? You will use it to become more networked, more helpful, smarter and better-looking. OK, so that last one might be a stretch, but the others are within your grasp. Here’s how …

1. To build a network of contacts within your industry that you never had access to or knew about before, not just locally, but around the world. These people will help you, willingly.

2. Share your knowledge and expertise: This can be tricky if you’re just starting out, but if you see a chance to help someone by answering a question or filling a need, seize that opportunity. We all know “stuff” that can help others.

3. Learn, learn learn – news, industry insights and other interesting stuff. You’ll get the most out of Twitter if you strategically follow people who share good stuff and in turn if you share some good stuff yourself. If you can get past the newbie stage of following too few people and seeing the same avatars again and again you will quickly understand the power of Twitter to make you smarter.

4. Discover real-life networking events: This is where following local people relevant to your industry can really pay off. Networking through Twitter means you’ll hear about real-life meet-ups and when you get there you’ll already know something about some of the people there. This means less time wasted on small talk and more time for real networking chat.

5. Be helpful: Helping others is something that happens a lot on Twitter and it really is true here more than anywhere else I know: You get back what you give many times over. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. You will be surprised how giving the Twitter community can be.

So, there you have it, your second Twitter 101 lesson. What do you think? Will this help a social media strategy newbie figure how they’ll use Twitter?

Related post:
Twitter 101 Day 1: Why are you on Twitter?