First things first, follow the people you already know. Follow the people and businesses you already do business with. Sounds simple, but it can be misleading. 

Ask yourself if the person you are following will benefit your Twitter interactions. An example is if I am an insurance agent is it a good idea to follow my friend’s sister’s cousin who is a student at Oregon University? Well maybe, what is she tweeting. If she is tweeting informative content about local and relevant news then maybe it would be worth reading her tweets. More likely she is tweeting about a final or big party she went to last night, and then it would not make sense for me to follow her on twitter. 

Read what people are tweeting before follow them. This is a warning so you do not have to read mindless dribble all over your twitter feed. It’s not mean its pre-screening with a purpose. 

Find people you respect and look up to in your industry and follow them on twitter. Once you follow your industry leaders check out who they are following. Chances are they will be following amazing people in your industry you didn’t even know about. 

Also follow industry news sources.  So you are up to date on the latest news stories in your industry and field. 

This step should be easy if you have followed the steps above. Now your twitter feed is full of interesting relevant material to your business. You should be overloaded with blogs, news reports, local updates and helpful tips from your industry’s leaders. Now to wade through it all and find relevant material your twitter audience would be interested in viewing. 

Keep your content focused with an emphasis on giving relevant information that with benefit your reader. Then retweet and share content to your heart’s content. 

Now everything that is up above will get you new twitter followers and create a abundant source for you to share with your customers. This is all good, but the real gold in twitter in connecting with people. If you like someone’s blog post comment on it. Make them a friend on Facebook or LinkedIn. Making these connections is the entire point of using social media. Be Social! Be Yourself! Start Connecting! 

How do you use twitter? Do you use any of the techniques talked about above.