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07/27/2010
 Ten Twitter Tips ForWork-at-Home Moms
By Jill Hart
CWAHM.com
Social Media is quickly growinginto one of the most-used marketing tools for work-at-home moms. One ofthe largest social media websites, Twitter.com, can be an effective wayto spread the word about your business and learn from other toprepresentatives in your business niche. However, it can take a lot oftime to determine the best ways to use Twitter effectively forbusiness. Below are ten tips to help shorten that learning curve.
1. Choose a Meaningful User name If possible, grab your businessname as well as your own name for use on Twitter. Having aneasy-to-find and easy-to-remember username is essential.2.Brand your Twitter pageDon't leave your Twitter pageboring and plain - spice it up. Make sure you add your logo, contactinformation and any other information that will be helpful forcustomers and visitors to your page. You can use a website such asTwitBacks.com to create a free or very low-cost background to bringlife to your page.3.Learn the LingoTwitter can be very useful, but itcan also be very frustrating ... especially if you have no idea whatall those little symbols mean that fly across the screen. Take the timeto research the meanings of the tags most often used on Twitter. Onegreat place to do so is right on Twitter itself: http://help.twitter.com/portal4.Follow industry leadersVeteran entrepreneur Diana Ennenshares this tip: "I love to follow industry experts on Twitter and gainall their business insight. It's almost like being right there intheir office and getting in on their trade secrets. Not only dothey post tips and how to information, but often share their businesssuccesses and mistakes and that allows me to learn from them. It's so worth it!"5.InteractDon't be shy! Take a few minuteseach day to comments on what others are discussing or to throw out aquestion or idea. You never know when a topic is going to spark aresponse and help you build relationships with customers and yourfellow Twitter users.6.Don't make it all business news - be YOUIt's great to share about thethings going on in your business and you certainly will want to sharespecials, discounts and other items of interest to your customers.However, as a small business owner you have the unique ability to put apersonal face on your business. Let your customers and readers get toknow a little about you as well as your business.7. RunContestsTwitter is a great fast-paced wayto a run a contest. By having a great prize you can create a viralnetwork of "tweets" about your company and the giveaway you're holding.Sit down beforehand and plan out some great 140 character tweets thatyou can use throughout the giveaway time - whether that be minutes,hours or even days.8. ShareMake your Twitter feed aworthwhile read for your customers. Share tips that apply to yourtarget market, links to articles and other informational tidbits.Create a #hashtag for your business or topic (see #3 above) so that youcan track re-tweets and mentions of your posts.9. BeThankfulA great way to make friends andbuild contacts is to thank others who re-tweet (RT) your posts. Send ashout-out saying thanks or feature them at special times likeFriendFriday (#FF). They'll know that you're grateful and you'll builda community that supports you - and each other.10.Promote OthersContrary to popular belief it ISin your best interest to work together with other entrepreneurs and tohelp spread the word about great things that they may be doing. Notonly will people be drawn to your Twitter feed for great information,but they will see that you're willing to share about more than your owninterests. Another great benefit is that those you help promote willone day be there to help promote you as well.
Twitter is a great marketing tool for work-at-home moms. It can helpdrive traffic to your website as well as aid you in buildingrelationships with your target market. Use the tips above to help guideyou in how to best use social media to benefit your business and yourcustomers.
Jill Hart's entrepreneurialcareer began in her teens when she spent a summer working with herfather who ran his own business. When he put her in charge of a Cokemachine and allowed her to keep the profits, she saw the benefits ofbeing her own boss. She is the founder of the popular Christianwork-at-home website CWAHM.comand mentors business owners at Successful Christian Women.Jill is also the co-author of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom(Beacon Hill Press, 2009). Permissiongranted for use onDrLaura.com.
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