Okay, so you’ve just signed up for Twitter. Now what? If you’re a green business new to the adventure of tweeting and you’re tempted to send out a distress tweet something like, Help! I don’t know what I’m doing!”, here are the basics you need to keep in mind as a newbie to Twitterville.

1. Complete your profile: You don’t want people to find a blank slate when they decide to check out your Twitter page.  Get in there to upload a photo, set your location, input your website, and fill out a bio so that people will know a little more about you! Be sure to plug your green business to get them clicking through to your site. And by expressing your business or personal aspirations as they pertain to helping the planet, you’ll signal to other like-minded people what you’re all about and start to develop a following.
2. Learn the terms: There is a myriad of code words and shorthand used by tweeters to keep their posts short and sweet, like RT (retweet) and hashtags (like #greenbusiness”). Check out Twitter’s 101 Guide to learning how to use these terms and tricks and then ask around to get advice from others using Twitter for their best tips. In time, you’ll learn all of the ins and outs, but don’t be afraid to make a mistake – very little harm can come of it!



3. Connect with other greenies: If you’re looking to develop a following of green consumers, sustainable business investors, and other socially minded individuals, look for groups and individuals with similar interests and follow them and their followers (when appropriate). This will help to build an online Twitter community of your own so you can have conversations and share information around your mutual green interests. Add yourself to WeFollow to get yourself found, as well as to find and follow Twitter users in the green and sustainability space, as well as other niches.
4. Update regularly: Generally people recommend that you tweet at least once every day to keep people engaged in your message. While you can certainly tweet more often than once a day, if you’re not active in the real-time world of Twitter, you’re likely to miss out or be behind the eight ball in terms of current events and developments. Be sure to include salient, interesting information that’s pertinent to your green business to keep people coming back for more.
5. Retweet often: One of the ways to grow your following is to retweet interesting messages from others. In return, people will often do the same for you as you get to know them” through your Twitter community.
6. Cross link with social networks: If you’ve got a green business blog or want to promote your green business marketing message through sites like Facebook, be sure to link to your Twitter account on these other social networking sites. You can display a Twitter badge or widget on your blog, and LinkedIn allows you to integrate your Twitter RSS feed to your LinkedIn status updates. Other sites allow you to add all of your sites social networking sites to your profile. Putting a link to your Twitter profile on your email signature is also a good idea. With these social networking tools, people can easily follow you on Twitter if they’re interested in what you’re doing.

Twitter is an excellent tool if you’re looking to your customer base, make contact with similar businesses, advertise upcoming promotions, launch a new product, or brand your business. Don’t be afraid to get into this space with your green business! It can be a very effective ally in your desire to build an eco-friendly business marketing plan.

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