The Twitter Book, 2nd Edition

About the Authors......Page 7
Contents......Page 8
Introduction......Page 15
What is Twitter?......Page 17
Ambient intimacy......Page 19
Sharing media and commentary......Page 21
Breaking news and shared experiences......Page 23
Mind reading—and mind opening......Page 25
Business and civic conversations......Page 27
CHAPTER 1: Get Started......Page 29
Sign up......Page 31
Understand what “following” means......Page 33
Don’t follow people yet......Page 35
Quickly create a compelling profile......Page 37
Find the people you know on Twitter......Page 39
Get suggestions for cool people to follow......Page 41
Tweet from the road......Page 43
Test-drive the 140-character limit......Page 45
Trim messages that are too long......Page 47
The secret to linking in Twitter......Page 49
Figure out how many people to follow......Page 51
Join a conversation:the hashtag (#) demystified......Page 53
Key Twitter jargon: tweet......Page 55
Key Twitter jargon: @messages......Page 57
Key Twitter jargon: retweet......Page 59
Key Twitter jargon: DM......Page 61
Key Twitter jargon: trending topics......Page 63
Key Twitter jargon: tweetup......Page 65
Twitter jargon: Fail Whale......Page 67
Try it for three weeks oryour money back—guaranteed!......Page 69
Get help from Twitter......Page 71
CHAPTER 2: Listen In......Page 73
Use Twitter search......Page 75
Take advantage of advanced search......Page 77
Four important things to search for......Page 79
Save searches......Page 81
Track search with email alerts......Page 83
Hunt down—and back up—older tweets......Page 85
Search the nooks, cranniesand archives of your account......Page 87
Stay on top of several searches at once,including live-event coverage......Page 89
Track tweeted links to your website......Page 91
Dig deeper on trending topics......Page 93
Find out what people are reading......Page 95
Bookmark links for later readingand draw attention to tweets now......Page 97
Use a life-changing third-party program......Page 99
Life-changing program #1: Seesmic......Page 101
Life-changing program #2: TweetDeck......Page 103
Use a great mobile client......Page 105
Follow smart people you don’t know......Page 107
Figure out who’s influential on Twitter......Page 109
Keep track of friends and family......Page 111
CHAPTER 3: Hold Great Conversations......Page 113
Get great followers......Page 115
Reply to your @messages......Page 117
Retweet clearly and classily:Part 1—the overview......Page 119
Retweet clearly and classily:Part 2—retweets vs. quoted tweets......Page 121
Retweet clearly and classily:Part 3—use the Retweet button......Page 123
Retweet clearly and classily:Part 4—quote a tweet......Page 125
What to retweet......Page 127
Troubleshoot your retweets......Page 129
Ask questions......Page 131
Answer questions......Page 133
Send smart @replies......Page 135
Get attention gracefully......Page 137
Tweet often…but not too often......Page 139
Three cool hashtag tricks......Page 141
Know your followers......Page 143
Unfollow graciously......Page 145
Don’t auto-DM (for crying out loud)......Page 147
Don’t spam anyone......Page 149
Don’t let third-party appsspam (or tweet) on your behalf......Page 151
Fight spam......Page 153
Recover fastif your account is compromised......Page 155
CHAPTER 4: Share Information and Ideas......Page 157
Be interesting to other people......Page 159
Make sure your messages get seen......Page 161
Link to interesting stuff around the web......Page 163
Link appealingly to your blog or site......Page 165
Use the hub-and-spoke modelto your advantage......Page 167
Link to a tweet......Page 169
Post pictures......Page 171
Live-tweet an event......Page 173
Provide customer feedback—griping and glowing......Page 175
Overhear things......Page 177
Publish on Twitter......Page 179
Participate in fundraising campaigns......Page 181
Make smart suggestions on FollowFriday......Page 183
Mark tweets as favoritesto draw attention to them......Page 185
Post on the right days and at the right times......Page 187
Repost important tweets......Page 189
CHAPTER 5: Reveal Yourself......Page 191
Post personal updates......Page 193
Go beyond “What’s happening?”......Page 195
Use the right icon......Page 197
Fill out your full bio (it takes two seconds)......Page 199
Spiff up your background......Page 201
Cross-post toFacebook, LinkedIn, and more......Page 203
Divulge your location......Page 205
Post your Twitter handle widely......Page 207
CHAPTER 6: Twitter for Business: Special Considerations and Ideas......Page 209
Listen first......Page 211
Have clear goals......Page 213
Integrate with your other channels......Page 215
Start slow, then build......Page 217
Figure out who does the tweeting......Page 219
Reveal the person behind the curtain......Page 221
Manage multiple staffers on one account......Page 223
Coordinate multiple accounts......Page 225
Be conversational......Page 227
Retweet your customers......Page 229
Offer solid customer support......Page 231
Post mostly NOT about your company......Page 233
Link creatively to your own sites......Page 235
Make money with Twitter......Page 237
Advertise on Twitter…maybe......Page 239
Report problems…and resolutions......Page 241
Post personal updates......Page 243
Use Bit.ly to track click-throughs andcreate custom short domains and URLs......Page 245
Engage journalists and PR people......Page 247
Follow everyone who follows you(almost)......Page 249
Four services for measuring Twitter......Page 251
Three bonus tools for business accounts......Page 252
Continuing the conversation—and taking a break from it......Page 254
Index......Page 255