Unless you’ve been stuck under a pile of F. Schumacher sample books for the last two years, you have probably heard of the social media phenomenon with the cute bird mascot.  Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows you to post status updates that range from personal (“Why are there so many crumbs in my purse?”) to educational (“Pantone announces its new color for 2010 is turquoise”) to conversational (“@gibsondm That was a great article about 5 steps to start Twitter”). Your tweets are limited to 140 characters.

While this article is not about why to use Twitter, I must devote one quick paragraph to my soapbox. Twitter has helped grow our business. I’ve hired people that I first interacted with via Twitter, created business relationships, found clients, been interviewed for USA Today, been interviewed for a marketing book, and more. If you still don’t get how it can help your business, email me and we’ll discuss.

Getting your feet wet with Twitter is the right way to start.

Here are 5 easy steps:

1. Go to http://twitter.com. Click on the big button that says “Sign Up Now”.

2. Select a username. Your username will also be called your Twitter “handle”. You’ll want to choose something that is close to your name or close to your company name. Make it as simple as possible. If I could do it all over again, I would have chosen my name “alexandragibson”. Unfortunately, that name is no longer available and I’ve developed a following with my current handle—@gibsonmd.

3. Write a profile and upload a picture. Be sure to do this before following anyone. Your profile is limited to 160 characters; I suggest using a mixture of professional information and personality. My profile is:

CEO of Gibson Design Management; MP for Gibson Design Group; social butterfly; type A (personality not blood); competitive horseback rider; martini drinker

4. Enter your first tweet. We typically write things like “Just getting started on Twitter. Thanks @gibsondm for teaching me! ”

5. Start following people. This will both mean that their tweets will update in your newsfeed and that they will be alerted that you are also on Twitter. If I know that my friend Bob Willywog is on Twitter, I can find him by clicking “Find People” and entering his name. If I just want to start following people in my town, in my industry, or who have similar interests, I go to www.twellow.com and run a search. This will search profiles for your keyword.

If this all seems overwhelming, don’t despair. Contact us about our social media services. We can hold your hand through not only getting your business set up but also on how to use these tools to improve your marketing.

Author: Alexandra Gibson

Alexandra is the CEO of Gibson Design Management and Managing Partner of interior design firm, Gibson Design Group. When she's not busy trying to build an empire, you can find Alexandra riding a horse, giving back to the community, playing with her Scottie, McCord, or drinking a martini (preferably not all four at once).

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Tags: communication, conversation, Education, gibson design group, Gibson Design Management, Marketing, Martinis, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, twitter for business, USA Today