Avoid Sterile Updates
Some businesses create social networking accounts, but just don’t “get” the purpose of networking. These businesses share sterile updates, like “New article posted today” or “New article posted today.” These updates just aren’t very interesting, and they don’t generate buzz or interest in the way that more conversational updates can do.

Instead of saying “Teleseminar today,” a business could say “Excited about the teleseminar today, with 300 people registered and more openings available!” You’re conveying the same basic information, but in a more engaging way. This more conversational style generates buzz and makes it more likely that people will follow your links or want to find out more about what you’re promoting.

Find Ways to Interest Your Followers
Don’t just share a bunch of self-serving updates whenever you have a new product to promote, or an action you want your followers to take. Find ways to interest your followers, and make them want to know what you’ll share next. This can be interesting quotes related to your business, or just general quotes designed to make people think or give them ideas.

You could also share interesting things that other people have posted on the Web, either via sharing links or Re-Tweeting things that other Twitter users have already shared. You don’t have to spend a lot of time creating interesting content in order to interest your followers; just share interesting content, even if it already exists elsewhere.

Promote Conversation to Build Social Networking Success
One of the single most successful social networking marketing techniques hardly seems like marketing at all: promoting conversations. Promoting conversations, particularly when they tie back in to your business, is a great way to keep and build followers, and even boost sales.

One business that uses social networking to promote conversations is a motorcycle part supplier. Every Friday, they ask people if they’re working on their motorcycles or riding for the weekend. People share information about the repairs they’re making, which gives other people the confidence to make similar repairs, or undertake their own repairs. This translates directly to additional sales for the parts supplier, because people order parts to make their repairs. All of this is because the supplier asks a single question every weekend that promotes conversation.

Bottom line: if you’re using social networking to promote your business, don’t just promote your business. Don’t just share sterile, boring updates. Engage your social networking followers. Share interesting information and links, and encourage conversations. You don’t have to talk directly about your business to boost business performance; in fact, some of the best performance boosts come when you don’t talk about your business at all, but instead facilitate interaction among your followers.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Firstly,  What is Twitter?
Twitter is essentially a web platform where you can share 140-character snippets with the people who are interested in what you say. In order to see your 140-character updates, people must “Follow” you on Twitter. In order for you to see their updates, you must “Follow” them back. The people who follow you and read what you write are called “Followers,” and the people whose updates you can see you are said to be “Following.”

Pick a Username that Conveys You And Your Business
When you create a profile on Twitter, pick a username that conveys you and your business. If your business has a short name, such as Bike Bandit, you might select BikeBandit as your username.  You can also sign up using your personal name.  Select whatever makes it easy for other Twitter users to find and follow you. If you have a long business name, such as Wintergreen Hospitality Services Incorporated, you might want to use just an identifying word from your business, such as Wintergreen. Pick a short username consistent with your business, and one that your users will be able to find easily.

Keep Your Profile Consistent with Twitter
When you’re building your Twitter profile, keep it consistent with Twitter. Twitter only gives you 140 characters for your bio, so think of a few words or a phrase that summarizes your business. You can also provide a link to your website in your profile, so that gives you a chance to funnel your Twitter followers to a specific page that gives them more information about you. Think of your Twitter bio as a teaser, and point them to a page that will make them want to know more about you via your profile URL.

Using Icons and Backgrounds Effectively
You can upload a picture to represent your business on Twitter, but the size is limited. Some businesses prefer to use a logo; one that’s consistent with other branding; so it’s easy to identify the business. Many people prefer to use a personal photograph, though, because the purpose of Twitter is to connect with other people. A photograph is more humanizing, and makes you more accessible as a person.

You can also put up a background on your Twitter page that followers see when they come to your page. You can use this background for your company logo, or to show your product or important things from your company.

Building a successful Twitter profile is your first step in building a strong Twitter following for your business. Remember that people want to connect with a human, so try to humanize your profile as much as possible. Utilizing your profile effectively makes it easier for people to find you and understand what your business does. If you follow these easy tips, you’ll have a successful Twitter profile in no time!

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

And where does something without direction end up going? Nowhere.

We call this “spray-and-pray” marketing – advertising your business anywhere and everywhere, hoping that people will notice you, praying your hard work pays off.

You’ll do a ton of things because you think you need to be doing them. You’ll get on Facebook. You’ll start to Twitter. You might host a teleseminar or write some articles. Don’t get me wrong. These can all be very good leads for your business, but if you don’t know why you’re doing them, they are just busy, random activities. Unless they are consciously linked to your end point, they will simply exhaust you and your physical resources, like your energy and time. Some of them will exhaust your money as well because they cost money to apply.

Be more intentional with your marketing techniques to avoid becoming frustrated by the amount of time you’re spending on lead generation. Instead, your time will be well spent because your marketing is on purpose. What you really want is to be engaging with your clients in your specialty, and that is where intentional marketing will lead you.

But, if do you reach a point of being overwhelmed or disillusioned, where you’re putting out a lot of energy but aren’t getting the returns, don’t be discouraged.

Do not give up. That would be a tremendous waste of your talent.

Part of my own purpose is to support and encourage you to pursue your own path. I know it’s easy to get discouraged if things haven’t been working out the way you’d imagined. Don’t blame yourself, and don’t assume that what you are offering has no value because you haven’t been able to get people to buy it. That would be a critical mistake.

What you are offering to clients absolutely does have value. You may just be missing one or two of pieces on how to promote it. It’s time to tweak your approach and get focused. A tweak or two could be all you need to make your approach more intentional, to turn things around and help you start attracting the clients you want.

You will probably find that you don’t need a major overhaul in your business, and that some of the approaches you are using do work quite well. It’s not about giving up on what you’re doing, throwing it all out, and saying that it was all a terrible waste of time. It’s not about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

It’s about evaluating where you are and looking closely at where you want to be.

There are almost certainly pieces of what you’re doing that are working. But, that spray-and-pray part of marketing is just not smart marketing. And if you have been doing that, at least you’ve been taking action. If you look on the positive side, you’ve been doing something. It may not have been the most effective thing, but you are working, trying and doing the best you can.

Now you know that you need to be more deliberate, more purposeful. And you now know it’s time for you to address your business and your marketing with intent.

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

1. Follow the leaders – When you build a Twitter following, your goal is to find followers who are receptive to your message.  Follow one of the leaders in your particular industry and you can open the way to access their thousands, even tens of thousands of followers.  Here are somes ways to get your name in front of those followers:

• Tweet success stories – If you have a success story to share involving this person – tweet them.  Let them know about it.  They’re certainly not going to keep it to themselves, they’ll usually re-tweet it to their followers.

• Re-tweet their message – You’ll receive a thank you from them, another step in getting your name out there.

• Remember, you need to give before you get.  It’s a two way street – or perhaps a two way tweet in this case.  Put together a list of five to ten people that you’d like to build a relationship with and start building on that relationship.

2.  Follow the followers – If you follow someone on Twitter, there’s a 50% chance that they are going to follow you back.  With Twitter, you are able to follow 10% more of the people who are following you (if you have 1,000 followers, you are able to follow 1,100 people).  Use software to follow the followers of

3.  Automate and systemise – If you decide to go through and manually add followers, you’re likely to have some very tired fingers.  There is software that can automate the process for you.  I use Tweet Adder, a software program that costs $55 and has been a huge help (www.tweetadder.com).  Not only does it automate the process, but it allows you to find the right type of followers for your product or service.  You can use keywords and locations to target potential followers.

While Twitter isn’t the only list building tool available to you, it’s very effective in leading followers to your web site and squeeze page.  Twitter has the ability to multiply your following quickly.  It’s a fast tool and easily automated.

Be sure to start Twittering and use this tool to your advantage.

Bernadette Doyle is a small business marketing expert. Get more tips and advice at http://www.clientmagnets.com