I get asked this a lot. People don’t get the point of Twitter and as it’s a bit of a longer term investment they don’t understand the potential ROI.

Twitter is a tool. That’s it. It’s a tool that connects you to people and businesses around the world and as a connecting tool it can be used in several different ways.

Networking

Good old fashioned networking. It’s the water cooler for the work-at-home set (speaking from personal experience).

You can build relationships with:

1. People or companies in your niche
2. Media people (such as Bloggers and even Tweeters with many followers) who write about your niche
3. Potential and existing clients / customers who are interested in your niche

Start by finding people in your niche by doing a search for keywords, and using the tools WeFollow and TwitSeeker.

Of course, it’s not just about who you follow – but your influence as well. Which means people need to follow you back. This is done by offering value in your tweets. Articles you read, other peoples tweets you enjoy (which can be re-tweeted), and answering peoples tweets. It’s about the conversation. And through this conversation relationships are built.

PR

Remember those people you are Networking with? Eventually trust is built and you can ask if they would be interested in more information. Or if they would be willing to RT (re-tweet) or write about you in an article / their blog.

For example – I have a design blog called Tchochkes. I wanted to get some PR for my blog through a respected venue. Design Sponge is one of my all time favorite blogs and I asked Grace (through my relationship with her on Twitter) if she would be interested in a City Guide for Tel Aviv. She said “yes” and both of us won. I got a link and new readers from a top tier blog that I adore, and she got content for her site.

This could be done for any industry. It just takes time and effort to work on the relationship and give before ever asking for anything. I had RT’d Grace’s tweets for awhile and made comments on her blog before I ever asked for anything in return. The trust was built. Plus what I asked for was a win-win. It helps.

Advertising

Assuming that you are selling something (be it consulting services or an actual item) most of us are selling something. On my Tchochkes Twitter account I automatically post the latest blog post. This is essentially advertising – going directly to the eyes of whoever is following me at the time that it is posted. (Some people read all of the posts – most don’t.) You could tweet about the latest special in your store or the latest offering of your company. Just make sure that’s not all you tweet about. Tweeting at people is not engaging in conversation.

And that’s not all…

Of course it’s not all – but it’s a start. There are things to keep in mind, like the time commitment. It takes time to find the people you want to follow. It takes time to build the relationships with people who interest you and it takes time for them to trust you.

There are other things that  I tend to notice – like the following / follower ratio. I am weary of people who follow more than they are followed. Of course, saying this my Tchochkes account is following many more than it is being followed – but I’ve only started using the account again about a week ago – in a few months time it should have a better following / follower ratio.  In the beginning this is how it is – unless you’re Oprah.

And yes, Twitter will eventually be replaced with something else. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use it. It’s what we have for now.