How to Twitter - Part One : Why Twitter? Get signed up
How to Twitter - Part Two : Setting up your Profile
How to Twitter - Part Three: Follow and Get Followed
How to Twitter - Part Four: Replies, Direct Messages

In this part we'll discuss a few of the other things you can do on Twitter Web.
Part Six - Third Party Twitter Applications

It's been so much fun seeing the people come from this ActiveRain tutorial to the wild world of Twitter... and jump right in! Makes me proud :)  It gives me the fuel to keep the tutorial going, that's for sure.

FAVORITES:

You can favor a tweet by clicking on the star. It will be saved in your "favorite" tab/page.  You can access your favorites directly by going to http://Twitter.com/favorites (after you are logged in).

Here are mine (I should use it more) -

(Yes, you can earn a twit designation from @LindaDavis, lol)

RETWEETING:

As you can see above, @FresYes thought @SarahWV said something good enough to be "retweeted" so he put "RT" (you can also spell out RETWEET)  before sending it again. 

LINKING:

First, a small soap-box chat, do not only link up your own stuff if you want people to read it. Chris Brogan, aka Mr. Social Media, suggests you link up other people 12 times more than your own stuff.  Because you are only allowed 140 characters, it's helpful to use URL shortening services like Tiny URL, Snurl, is.gd etc.

BUTTONS:

Ok... you're ready for a couple shortcuts now that you know your way around the long way (sorry I think it's important to know the long way first :) 
REPLY- When you are at the twitter home page, if you mouse over to the right of a tweet, you will notice the STAR and an ARROW. If you click on the arrow, twitter will fill in the @reply for you.
TRASH- If you go to your archive (click on your picture or name) - when you mouseover you will notice a TRASH CAN, I'm sure you can figure out what that's for.

Stay tuned for Part Six.

How to Twitter - Part One : Why Twitter? Get signed up
How to Twitter - Part Two : Setting up your Profile
How to Twitter - Part Three: Follow and Get Followed

Today... Part Four will address The Conversation.

After you have accumulated some people that you follow, you will see them talking.  Time to join in!!  Twitter is only a good thing if you use it! 

I have some tips to share with you when you are thinking about what to write:

1. Be yourself.
2. Don't be a Salesy Real Estate Agent or other. Don't constantly ask, "Who wants to buy a home in Timbucktu?"
3. Don't be Link Happy with your own posts.  Link up other posts that you have enjoyed reading - and most of the time, don't link at all.
4. You aren't limited to "What are you Doing?" You can use "What are you thinking?" "What's for lunch?" "Here is my question for you" etc.  No rules!
5. Don't use it like a chat room.  (I can be too chatty ::guilt face::)  If you continue one-on-one conversation - take it outside of twitter to a chat program, email, or phone call!

Now onto The Conversation.

To send a general message just type 140 characters or less into the box and enter:

Trying to decide whether to work on Inbox Zero, convert paper to .pdf files, or Twitter some more!

To direct your conversation to someone:(keep in mind, others can see your conversation)

@KimWood Congrats on your news of the day!! You are going to write for Mothers Fighting for Others !!

I just heard that @KimWood is a new writer at Mothers Fighting for Others !!! 
(The 1st suggestion is better, it is easier to view your replies if the name is at the beginning of the sentence)

To direct your conversation to more than one person:

@KimWood @HeadMutha @Respres Yay for the new Mothers Fighting for Others gig!

A new writer at Mother's Fighting for Others @KimWood @headmutha @respres yay!
or
@KimWood Congrats, that is great news!!!  @SarahWV You write for Mothers Fighting for Others, don't you?
(see the above example - better to put @names at the beginning of a sentence)

To send a private, direct message:  (the person you are sending the message to must follow you in order to DM them - but you can @reply)

d KimWood No wonder you were bursting at the seams to tell us.
D [SPACE] name then your message.

* What happens on the internet stays on the internet - just a quick reminder. Be careful with DMs.  What happens if you forget the space - or twitter has a hiccup?  (haha remembering VAR convo at breakfast and my DMs)

Most of all ... have fun!!!  Remember it gets more and more difficult to keep up the conversation after you have more and more followers.

Part Five - Extras on Twitter Web

So I've been talking about it for a while, and with the new option of feeds from ActiveRain (mostly I'm *yay* for this) - I want to share the right way to use Twitter.

You've heard about it if you've been listening to the national and local TV stations, politicians, bloggers, radio, newspapers, etc. 

Here is why I continue to use Twitter, almost daily:

• Friendships & Connections
• Up-to-the-minute news that is happening where all of my twitbuds (people I follow) live
• Links shared to articles people have read and enjoy (I like it when these come from others vs. writer)
• Great place to ask questions and receive answers (after you have followers)
• Connection with Locals   - and last but not least -
  
• Business !!  (Yes, business. Closed sales)

The hard part about Twitter is that it is really hard to understand until you use it. But it's also hard to know exactly what to do once you are there.

Here kicks off my How to Twitter series...

Let's get you started...... Go get yourself a user name. I started with @RealtorKimWood, but I felt that was too long after I started using Twitter for a while. Now I'm just @KimWood.  (I have my reasons :) 

When choosing your name, do not put @before it - it's just "twittertalk" which you'll learn later.  Just: KimWood is what I would select :)

You'll also see some other variations:

Realtor+Name= @RealtorToby 
Real Estate Related=@RealEstateChick
Area Branding Related=@FresYes
Name+Area= @SandyPA
BrandName= @ActiveRich

Decide who you would like to be.  You can change this later, but like most things, it is a whole lot easier if you think ahead then act.

Let's get to it!!  Go to http://Twitter.com (You can click there -it will open in another window and you can still look at this if you need to).

Go ahead..... just do it now!  It'll only take about 5 minutes to complete signing in.

We'll get you started in what to do after you have your user name in How to Twitter - Part Two. (If you are really anxious - go ahead and play around with your profile - add your picture, bio, etc.)

Questions are welcomed.......... I'll do my best to answer them all in a comment or in the series!

How to Twitter - Part Two Setting up your Profile

How to Twitter - Part One Why Twitter ? Get signed up.
How to Twitter - Part Two Setting up your Profile

Part Three is time to start getting some people to listen to (Following) and people who want to listen to you (Followers).

Just jump in here, ok? It's very hard to comprehend the madness until you just jump in.  It'll all make a little more sense once you get going with it.

Sign into your Twitter account.

I'll be your Guinea Pig and hostess..... Go to my Twitter Webpage: http://Twitter.com/KimWood.  Click FOLLOW. (I apologize in advance if I'm not quick to refollow, but I will, it's been madness lately).

In the sidebar, you'll see the Following box with a bunch of mugshots... look below my beautiful friends and click View All. That will take you to a list of the people I follow.

Look through the list and you'll be bound to find some familiar names that you know from the Real Estate Industry and/or ActiveRain.  Be selective. It's not all about the numbers!!!  (Although Bob Carney & Linda Davis came up with an e-twit certification for people with 100 followers and 1000 updates.)  Don't follow everyone I follow (you don't want to - trust me :).  Click on their username to be taken to their main page, you will see what types of things they talk about and you can read their bio. If you like what you see, click Follow. If not - keep looking :)

Some people if you follow them will shout out a "Hello and Welcome!" - some won't. There isn't a right or wrong way to that.

You can also click on the names in my conversation stream which is shown right below the "What are you Doing" box.  

Another way to find people is to search for them. If you've seen them mention Twitter- go search for them on the Twitter website! Or randomly enter some names in the search box.

I recommend you chose 25 active follows to start with. (Active means they've said something in the last couple of days).  Don't start with too many, it gets very overwhelming - trust me.

Once you have your list of about 25 people to follow - they'll start to look at your profile and quite possibly will start to follow you. They'll want to see some conversation - so guess what it's time for?

Use the "What are you Doing" box!!! 

The only restriction is that it has to be 140 characters or less. That's it!  Here are some samples:

• I'm not sure what I'm doing, but trying to learn Twitter.
• Time for lunch..... what to have?
• What do you think of my new profile picture?
• Hello, hello? Anyone out here?
• Are there any other Real Estate Agents on Twitter?

See? You can say whatever..... the only tip I will give you is don't shout out a salesy pitch if you want to make connections, or throw out a URL address yet.

More about following/followers:
People will try to follow you that you do not want or care about what they have to say. If they are painless (no spam) I usually leave them. They can't hurt me by watching what I say. If they are spam, you'll see a "block" or "remove" when you look at their profile if you are signed in.
Most of us that are experienced on twitter will not follow someone if they have a gazillion more Follows then Followers. Why aren't people following them? Must be a reason.

Part Four - How to converse, reply, direct (private) message.

How to Twitter - Part One gave a brief overview of Twitter, why I use it, and how to get signed up.

In Part Two, we'll move onto setting up your profile. This is important as people look to see if they want to follow you. If you do not have a bio, picture, website etc. I hesitate - so do others. We need to know a little bit first.

So.... you have your username... if you are continuing from sign up, the next screen you will see looks like this:

I personally, never like to use these. I don't like my friends to have to get the notifications :)  However, follow the directions if you chose to. It will search for people in your address book.

So moving right along....

What are you doing? If you are going to listen to me... you won't do anything yet. However, I know some of you will want to - so go ahead and type something in there if you want. (No one will really read it - cause you aren't following/followed yet - but go ahead if you have to).

Let's click on Settings. Most of the learning I have found on the computer is by "playing" so go ahead and play with all of those tabs in there. After completing each tab, be sure and click SAVE at the bottom.

At the least, set these up:

• Account Tab: One line bio, location (you can be general), More info URL (if you have a blog - link it up! If not, use another website you have - even ActiveRain).  Note: There is a box called "Protect my Updates" where you will be locked. I have been locked and unlocked. For the beginning, I recommend you are unlocked - people hesitate following people who are blocked because they can not see anything - and you have to approve them. Of course, when you are unlocked - you will have some people request to follow that you will follow up and block later (I'll address this).
• Device Tab: I highly recommend you do not set this up at this time.
• Notices Tab: While you are getting started, change the drop-down menu to "All @ replies"
• Picture Tab: Duh! It does have to be 700K or less, and square is best. (Picnik is awesome for this).  Some people use a picture of themself, others use logos, pets, etc.

You're all set up!  How to Twitter - Part Three is up where you can start learning how to follow and get followed.

Guess what? I have news! I have big news to share!  I met Tyler Wagner today!  Yes, I did!

Please help me welcome Tyler the fabulous world of ActiveRain !!!  He even wrote his first AR post: It's Time to Jump In already! So JUMP on over there and give him a hearty Welcome !

Tyler is not new to the blogging world, in fact we taught Blogging 101 to our association today. But he hasn't gotten fired up about it like he wants to!

I told him about ActiveRain about a week ago - and yesterday he finally signed on - got his profile going - and BOOM - wrote his first post!

He was a big cheerleader for ActiveRain with me, it truly is a great place to begin blogging!!!! So I wasn't the sole "shouter" if AR Dudes' ears were burning :)

Welcome to AR, Tyler ! It was nice to meet you - and I hope you gain lots of benefits from it like friendships, networks, knowledge and business!!!!

You know where to reach me if you need any help!

(pst - you know I had to share Twitter with him too - find him @TylerWagner)

I am a @Twitterite. There is something I need to tell you about Twitter. Don't abuse it. If you don't use it don't just throw your feeds from ActiveRain up there. 

I'm happy that ActiveRain jumped into the Twitter movement and added Twitter Settings and Feeds, don't get me wrong. Brad's Post explains more here.

It's on my list to write my own version of how to use Twitter for you - I'll still get to that one of these days.... I can sum it up by saying:

You really need to just jump in, sign up, start following some people you know (search users) and keep adding more people as you see their names come up.  You'll get the hang of it after you start seeing what is going on.

Regarding the new ActiveRain Twitter settings that you can make a notice appear in twitter everytime you post............  USE WITH CARE.

If you are an active Twitter user - and people get to know you - right on! Send your links - we want to read them!!! They'll be dispursed into other conversation you have.

If you do not use twitter, tried it and hated it, or think of it as a waste of time - if you send your links to twitter most likely you will get unfollowed.  If your profile is full of links and no conversation - you probably won't even 'get' followed.

I asked some people today about it - the consenseous was pretty clear. Feeds are like spam when used the wrong way. It's better if you choose your favorite posts - or maybe the topic of conversation on twitter that day - and link it up !

Another issue that will hopefully get resolved......... I am on twitter for social & business purposes. It has paid off in both in big ways for me.  Linking up my Member's Only posts to twitter - and locals clicking and finding out they can't view cause of no permission? I don't think that will go over too well.

Again, Kim speaks her opinion, do as you wish.

Don't be the cause of a FAIL WHALE !!!

UPDATE 9/30:

In Chris Brogan's post, Using Outposts in your Media Strategy, he said, "Post the occasional tweet about a particularly good blog post to Twitter. Do this at a rate of about 1:12, meaning one post about your stuff to any 12 tweets about other people’s stuff. This will keep people a bit more interested in your stream as something of value, versus a “mememememe” type of Twitter user."