What is Twitter and Why Should Speakers Use it for Marketing?

Many speakers and "normie" non-speakers alike have asked me: What is Twiiter? Why should I Tweet? How do I Tweet? How does Tweeting help to market my speaking business?

Truthfully, event though I thought that I groked the benefits of tweeting and even recently discovered that I am a Twitterholic, I may have more of an addiction to writing about my life in short sentences than I do a true understand of the benefits of using Twitter for marketing purposes. Luckily for you and I, Ron Jones of Search Engine Watch gives us a great primer on what twitter is, how to use it and how it can benefit your speaking business.

"There’s a lot of buzz right now about Twitter, which has emerged as one of the most popular social media tools. This three-part article is for those who are just getting started with Twitter or who simply want to know what it is and how it works. I’ll cover everything you need to know about setting up and using a Twitter account, and share some tools and resources to help you leverage Twitter to market yourself or your company.

What Is Twitter? Twitter is a social media tool that lets users send out short messages (or ’tweets’) that are picked up and read by anyone who decides to follow you. This is also referred to as micro-blogging. I like the idea of keeping your message down to 140 characters, because it forces you to be succinct and to the point. Some have started a Twitter account, sent out a message or two, and then wondered what the big deal is. The big revelation to me came when I found all of the supporting applications and tools that were an adjunct to the Web site. Once you start using some of these tools, the light bulb will go off and you’ll find many uses for Twitter. Here are a few:" Twitter 101, Part 1 - Search Engine Watch (SEW)