Twitter … what does it mean and how do I do it?

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Twitter is also a great way to connect with others who share your interests. Networking with Twitter can help you meet valuable business partners. This video… “Twitter in Plain English” is a great place to start.

Okay, so are you ready to start twittering?

Join at www.twitter.com: sign-up, create a username and password
Set up your profile: Click settings from the bar on the top of your twitter page and start to fill in the profile fields. Add a link to your site or blog, add a brief bio, upload your bio pic … I can create a custom twitter background for you!
Follow people that share your interests: To follow someone you just need to click the follow button below their bio picture. You can find people in Twitter directories (Twellow, JustTweetIt). Read their descriptions, visit their web sites and blogs Once you find someone to follow you can also look at who they are following to find additional people to follow. Being on the right niche will make it easy for you to build a community with a similar interest.
Decide how you want to twitter: at twitter.com, from your phone, in a widget on your igoogle home page, by downloading a free program such as tweetdeck. Check out The Twitter Applications Database for all the cool options.
Join the conversation: Answer the question “What are you doing?”. Read up on what the people your following are up to and reply to what interests you. Soon you’ll be recognized and you’ll get some follows.
Integrate Twitter with other social networks: Have a blog? Then post to Twitter when you have a post that will interest your niche. Have a Facebook business page? Then ask people to become a fan. Twitter can let you build relationships that can branch out to other social networks. Add your Twitter contact information to your website or blog so people can find you.
Twitter Hash Tags: The hash symbol followed by a tag identifies a topic on Twitter. Hash tags make it easy to search for all posts on the same topic. A good example is #followfriday. Every Friday twitterers nominate those they think are worth following by including #followfriday somewhere in their tweet. When others search for #followfriday all tweets that have included that hash tag are displayed.
Twitter retweets: “retweet” or the more commonly used “RT” allow you to pass on a tweet to your followers while giving credit to the original submitter.