Two Simple Twitter Tips to Virtually Dominate Your Niche

With over two-hundred and fifty-five million active users worldwide, Twitter remains one the most powerful social media networks for business professionals.Not only is there an opportunity to reach a whole new audience, but the chance to target your message to a group eager to consume your content.With the massive potential Twitter offers, it is easy to miss a couple of key ways to capitalize on this micro social network.Below are a two Twitter tips to virtually dominate your niche or industry!

Twitter Tips for Business

1. Boost Business Buzz and Visibility

Twitter can boost buzz, visibility and ultimately the conversation surrounding your business in a variety of ways. For example, Twitter can:

• Position your personal brand as an influencer and leader within your industry
• Create a voice and tone for your personal brand
• Assist in identifying consumers interested in your product or service
• Allow you to stay ahead of the latest trends or changes within your industry
• Give you an additional pillar to support your current marketing plan

However, none of this can or will happen without a few key elements.One element is content. While sharing quality content is extremely important, it is only part of the equation when it comes to a successful Twitter strategy.Building a viable community also requires consistent conversation. This allows your followers to get to know you and see that there is a live human being behind your tweets.

Conversation plus quality content is a potent combination. Together they build brand awareness and boost your online visibility. Tweet This!

How's that?As people begin to know, like and trust you, they will also start to retweet, share and interact with you.

TIP: Don't Focus on the Number

When you first start using Twitter, it is easy to become consumed with your follower count.Rather than worrying about followers that have no bearing on your business, focus instead on building a small, tight-knit community that is excited to share your content.Use Twitter applications to locate people tweeting about your niche. Then get involved in the conversation.Either start one or get involved in one. But first find the right people.These are the people who will either buy from you, hire you or are influencers within your industry. You need to know who they are and what their favorite topics are.One of my favorite applications to find those people is Followerwonk. This easy to use tool allows you to find tweets based on an area of expertise, profession or any other keyword listed in a profile.Log in, click on "search Twitter bios," enter your keyword and get started in seconds!

2. Build Relationships

Twitter creates trust through authenticity. If you genuinely care about your followers and look to build relationships, your payday will eventually come.On the flip side, if you abuse your followers with spam and other worthless content, they will quickly become disillusioned and eventually lose interest.

What makes Twitter particularly attractive to marketers?

• Its 140 character “texting to the masses” format offers marketers the chance to put together quick, timely and highly targeted tweets
• It moves at a rapid pace making it a perfect marketing vehicle to get in front of and stay in front of today’s busy consumer
• It allows brands, small businesses and fans to communicate on a very “real” level, eliminating many of the walls that were put up by traditional media

TIP: Talk About What You're Passionate About

Talk about topics that you are passionate about and share content that is important to you.Guaranteed, if it is interesting to you and you have connected with the right people, your followers will find your tweets fascinating as well.A great way to get followers interacting with your tweets is to ask a question or offer your thoughts about the article you are tweeting.For example, let's say you are re-tweeting an article on the "top things you can share on Twitter." Instead of simply passing the tweet along, ask a question like “what would you add to this list” or give your thoughts like “excellent resource!”

Adding context to your tweets serves several purposes:

• It humanizes what could be just any other Twitter channel and gives your followers a better understanding of who you are and what you find interesting
• Your followers are far more likely to click on a link that you have supported verbally then a tweet you are just pushing along
• It says to the author of that article that you took the time to read it and share it with your community

A simple way to consistently stay on top of what matters most to your customers is to mine Twitter conversations. Bottlenose is a free tool that illuminates trending topics, people and emotions that affect your business.The live dashboard shares trends happening in and around your favorite topics, niche or location. View trending topics, comments or links shared across your community in real-time.

What's your favorite way to use Twitter in your business? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!