Do we actually know how to use Twitter?

We are almost addicted to FACEBOOK. First thing that we do in mornings is to check whether or not any notifications are there on it, and then we step into bathrooms. For Twitter, the scenario is almost different. Many surveys have been done on How Indians Consume Twitter. The facts state that still majority of the people figuring out what to do with Twitter. [Well, This was my own state in 2009 ;-)] But, luckily I figured it out for myself and started helping other people too.

Twitter is mostly consumed for getting quick news updates as far as its use among Indians is concerned. However, it is much more wide than this. In India there are 3 major categories of Twitter Users:

1. Journalists

2. Celebrities (Sports, Films, Entertainment, etc)

3. Politicians and Big Business house CEO's

Inspite of India's so high population, very few people use twitter. And that's little surprising. I was doing some research regarding the same on the internet and to my amaze, I found some really interesting facts:

Population Size does not actually matter when it comes to comparing it with Twitter users. Though India may be having more than one billion population, very few people have access to internet (137,000,000 as of Dec 2012). Even among the people who has internet access, few are present on social media websites. According to World Internet Stats, 5.2 % of people use Facebook among the people who has internet access. 

These whole big picture shows that when it comes to Twitter users, India's gigantic population size does not convert into users. 

Next to the size, other major problem among Indians using Twitter - is the English Language. Twitter has 140 characters to explain your message and majority of its users use English as the basic language. In India, English is spoken only amongst business networks alone and to some extent in the entertainment industry. That may be one of the reason why there less Indian Twitter Users. Well, Language is no barrier today, I am just saying that due to less number of people actually speaking English, may be it can be the reason of not expressing one self in 140 characters. 

As I earlier mentioned, only 3 categories of people are observed using Twitter the most, many of the small businesses have showed their interest in using it too. But the only fact that become a hindrance is - what to do after making a Twitter account? What to Tweet about? Who to follow? How to get following? How to spread message? Do the world actually read 140 characters?

Well, I can show you the ways :)

Anybody who wants to use twitter, first must understand that it is very different from Facebook. You must be seeing your friends on Facebook, enjoying each others' pictures, seeing colourfull wall pages, etc. But that's not what Twitter will offer. It is like a collection of messages. It is like your mobile inbox, where you see all the text messages bundled upon each other. Understand it that way and you will gradually come to know how to use it. There is no perfect guideline that will tell you the step-by-step process to use Twitter. You have to follow your instinct on what should be tweeted. I can just tell you basic things. Those are:

Decide on what you will Tweet? - Personal or Professional

Find people - Friends, people you would like to get connected to..

Tweet Information and not the Junk..

Respond to people who are mentioning your name..

Do not over flow with your business information all the time..

Last but not least, enjoy twittering.

I would really love to know how you use Twitter :)

 

  

 

12 Most Important Twitter Tools for Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, it becomes essential to capture traffic coming from inside Twitter.com because it is cost free. We all know the basics of twitter and how to use it. But how effectively are you putting this tool for capturing your market and creating a circle of customer engagement. 

Twitter is a network which shares information in small pieces. And so there are various other tools to monitor your Twitter account. I have compiled a short list of 12 most important tools, that every entrepreneur should consider using at least some of them for monitoring and managing conversations on Twitter. 

1. Twileshare - Upload and share files on Twitter with your clients, customers, employees, and other important contacts instantly. This makes your work instant and on-the-go easy. 
2. Vizify TweetSheet - Your Twitter activity is displayed as an instant infographic. It displays your information in an easy and attractive way, forcing anyone to go through your content.
3. TweetMyJobs - Great job matches via Twitter (and mobile). It is a great tool for HR managers of your firm, reducing recruiting costs at large.
4. Twups - Twitter aggregator. Popular topics are clubbed all in one place so that you can monitor the topics relevant to your business and track it who is discussing them. You can also work on your online keyword strategy for your website.
5. TwitterFeed - Feed your blog to Twitter. One of the most important tools. Reduce your tweet burden by just creating a tweeterfeed account and sync it with your blog or other blogs of your interest.
6. Nearby Tweets - Find and watch tweets from local users. This will enable you to see who are tweet about you in the nearby area and you can reach up to them for off – line conversations.
7. TweetLevel - An influence measurement tool from Edelman. This tool measures your brand influence and will give you a score. How influential are you among your competitors and customers.
8. Tweet Scan - Twitter and micro blog search. Search and capture relevant people, groups, topics, locations, etc.
9. Twitalyzer - Serious analytics for social relationships. It is an interesting tool, some what similar to Google Analytics, helps you to see how many followers are online on real time, who retweets your message, what people are talking about you, followers and following statistics etc.
10. TwitBlock - With TwitBlock, find out how many followers are spam and you can trash them, so that they do not clutter your account and you can get better statistics about your followers.
11. Splitweet - It is a most useful twitter tool if your firm has more than one brand to manage on twitter. Splitweet is Management + brand monitoring for multiple Twitter accounts tool helping you manage all your brands at one place.
12. BirdHerd - Twitter made easy for groups and teams. BirdHerd helps communication among your team mates and group conversations. It’s like your own small community inside twitter, which helps you carry out important meetings, conversations, quick polling among team mates and much more. 

Hope this list is useful. I would love to hear your reviews. 

-KP.   

Twitter for Entrepreneurs - Interview with Keith Keller

Amazing conversation with Keith Keller from Melbourne, Australia gave me deep insights on how can one use Twitter for sharing their message. So, I thought why not share his thoughts with my network and give them a chance to listen him, straight away from Australia. 

I have already written about Keith Keller earlier in my previous posts. Also, He runs a much demanded programme - Crack the Twitter Code. Recently, Keith also wrote a book on "Twitter for Creative Souls" which is an e-book and u can avail it for free on his website.

Here, again Keith has shared some very useful Twitter tactics that can be used by Global Entrepreneurs. For the first, he has shared his views with India. Have a listen to this Sound Cloud audio (below) of me taking his interview. 

KONVERSATION WITH KEITH KELLER & KHUSHBU PANDYA (MP3) by Khushbu Pandya