7 Twitter Misconceptions

Let me clearly state the answer to probably the biggest Twitter misconception of all:

• You do NOT have to use a smartphone to access Twitter. In fact, though I have a smartphone, I only access Twitter through its site http://twitter.com

Now let me clear up some misconceptions that affect utilizing Twitter for connecting with people for your business marketing goals:

• One tweet (Twitter update) a day is NOT enough to show commitment to the Twitter community. Twitter is a two-way conversation – one 140-character tweet a day is not a conversation.

• Unless you are a celebrity you DO need to follow people back in order to demonstrate interest in what others are sharing on Twitter.

(I checked out the Twitter profile of a professional who has a LinkedIn group. He follows 0 people on Twitter. Would you follow such a person?)

• Correct spelling DOES matter on Twitter. While it is okay to use abbreviations to fit your tweet into the 140-character limit, do spell complete words correctly. If spelling is not your thing, create your tweets in Word, correct your spelling errors, and then copy your tweet into Twitter.

• Offline manners ARE a good thing to practice on Twitter. Just as you say thank you to someone who does something nice for you offline, say thank you to someone who does something nice for you online.

• Twitter is NOT just about your business. It IS about sharing information connected to your brand that might interest your followers.

• It IS a good idea to share the link of an article about which you are tweeting. It does not help others to tweet "Great article in today's Daily Variety about tax credits." It does help others if you tweet "Great article in today's Daily Variety about tax credits. [link to article]"

Learning how to use Twitter effectively for your business is the same as learning other new skills – the more you practice correct techniques the better you'll become.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic.

On Wednesday, April 6, at 4 pm Eastern she will be interviewed on Twitter in a twitterview about her novel "Mrs. Lieutenant." Even if you are not on Twitter you can watch the interview. At start time go to http://twitter.com and put #emlyn in the search box. You'll get the real-time feed of all comments with that hashtag (#emlyn).