Ever wanted to have a Twitter Business? When I say Twitter Business, I mean having a business that receives a lot of traffic and prospects from Twitter?

Twitter is the essence of complexity in 140 characters. That is why most businesses choose not to even use Twitter, let alone have a Twitter business. However, after using Twitter for almost two years (first login was February 5, 2009) I have learned a lot about how to use and how not to use this interesting site. Here are my Top 10 Twitter Business Do’s and Don’ts(Donuts, did someone say donuts):

Twitter Business Do’s

1. Talk about other people beside for yourself. The me train is boring! In the end no one pays attention! Just like the boy who cried wolf, Twitter business owners who do this will find themself alone at the end of the day.
2. RT other peoples posts, quotes, and information. This goes along with the first Do, but I figured some reinforcement was nice.
3. You are in a person business. It does not matter what your product is, people buy it. That means treat them like kings and queens on Twitter whenever possible.
4. Sell the “Sizzle Not The Steak” on Twitter. You have 140 characters. 140 characters! That is it! You will very rarely, if ever sell someone in 140 characters. What you can do is take them to the next level. To your blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, event, appointment, Skype, etc.
5. Be interesting! They might not buy from me, but gosh darn it if I am boring they will not come back to RT, share, comment, or tell their friends about me.
6. Have a business plan for how you will use Twitter for the next 3,6,9, and 12 months.
7. Use Twitter Search, Twellow, and WeFollow to find targeted prospects.
8. Make your prospects laugh or think at least once every 5 tweets. The more you engage them the more they will be interested in conversating with you.
9. Twitter is not just for your prospecting efforts. It also helps you with customer service, market research, help current clients, and staying connected with a team.
10. Listen to people. Remember, everyone gets caught up in putting out the right tweets, reply, and retweet. How many are caught up in listening to their clients, prospects, and partners?

Twitter Business Don’ts

1. Do not have everything automated! The idea that a constant stream of automated tweets will make you rich is probably a fallacy. It is definitely not something you leave on autopilot. Man the machine!
2. Do not put Twitter in a seperate category of marketing. Integrate it with your other social networks, and marketing strategy in general.
3. Why so serious? Joker lines aside, do not pretend to be all stuffy and business like on Twitter. Be yourself! Ok, be a fun side of yourself!
4. I went to the brush my teeth! Good news everyone! I had cereal for breakfast today! Oh cool, this is the exact person I want to follow!
5. Do not unfollow people who follow you for no reason. Twitter has done a good job of eliminating these people from Twitter, but from time to time they still appear. If you have no reason to unfollow someone then do not!
6. Do not bash people (unless of course they really deserve it)! I do not remember the account name, but I remember when I first got on Twitter there was an account that solely devoted to bashing a large insurance company. After a while, I just unfollowed her, because there was nothing useful about connecting with there was nothing useful about the account.
7. Do not stalk your competitors and think you can gain an upper hand on them. Yes, Twitter is a great source for finding out more information about how to use this service. Do not just go out and mimic your competitors.
8. Do not expect to get business your first, second, thirtieth, or even ninetieth day on Twitter. Instead, look it this as a long term revenue generator.
9. Do the same thing as everyone else! Be different!
10. Don’t just go into Twitter like a cowboy shooting tweets right and left expecting to bowl everyone over with your intensity. Instead, be consistent in your efforts to build your business on Twitter.

Twitter Business Ready

So not that you have Twitter Business Do and Don’t what you are waiting for? You are Twitter Business Ready! Your next step to build your Twitter business is to actually go out and use these ideas!