According to Wikipedia, Twitter “is a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length which are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them…Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them <and> users can send and receive updates via the Twitter Web site, SMS, RSS (receive only), or through applications such as Tweetie, Twitterrific, Twitterfon, TweetDeck and Feedalizr.”

What’s more, Twitter is free, and easy to use. In fact, as of this writing, millions of people are currently on Twitter…or tweeting. So, ready to start?

First off, you may want to educate yourself on the ins and outs of Twitter: how it works, who is using it, what kind of information you can gather, and how it can work for your business.

For those of us who like to information-gather before we jump in, check out Mashable’s benefits accrued through Twitter use. You can read Union Street’s Twitter for Lead Generation and Twitter for Business pages, and Zappos’s notes on the Twitter site. Even the Wall Street Journal has published an article about Twitter. Finally, Laura Fitton’s comprehensive piece has several step by step articles and guides for getting started using Twitter. So go ahead, poke around, and give it a whirl. Part Two of our Twitter blog will help you get started tweeting for your particular business needs.

How can Twitter Help My Business? (Part 2)

So now you’ve checked out a few articles on what Twitter is, and how it can work for you. Now it’s time to experience Twitter on your own terms! Are you ready to Tweet? Let’s get started.

First, determine whom you want to follow.

Mashable has a rundown of 15 different Twitter directories (if you’re in the real estate industry, check Union Street’s Twitter for Real Estate article).

Next, start posting.

Once you have an account, and found folks to follow…let’s get people interested in following you. Best way? Start posting—post often, and post well. Check out great tweeting tips, or post your own Twesume.

1. Embrace good social networking etiquette.

Remember, all messages posted to Twitter—even updates you send by phone or IM—are on the Web where prospective employers and customers can find them. Tweets are short and sweet—but can still convey a sense of style and savvy, or look cheeky and unprofessional.

* Check out Peter Shankman’s tips, as well as some great info on Twitter etiquette.

* Not understanding the strange lingo that is sometimes used on Twitter? Shannon Yelland has made an excellent dictionary of Twitter jargon and slang.

* Still need a little help figuring out how to maintain your sincerity and play nice in Twitter? AgentGenius gives you some great social media etiquette and business tips.

Now get ready, get set…and start tweeting!

As you start to put your chunks, headings, and subheads together into a cohesive flow, remember these four key points:

1. Web writing is best laid out in an inverted pyramid style. This is accomplished by starting with your conclusion or main point, and ending with the finer points and details of your topic.
2. A successful site is written for many different levels of interest. It’s a tough concept, but the best sites are written from the viewpoints of “there is no interest in my topic,” to “my reader is thirsting for more info.” How do we do this?
3. Avoid promotional, boastful, or subjective writing, or exaggerated claims
4. Keep your paragraphs concise. What’s more, using high quality graphics will help get your key points across quickly, and without belaboring the point with unnecessary text.

As you plan your site, remember: less is more. Plan your page layout so the reader doesn’t have to scroll far down the page. You can accomplish this by presenting one idea per paragraph, ensuring your salient points tell the story succinctly and effectively. If it’s necessary to have a fair amount of information on one page so that scrolling is unavoidable, try to:

• Provide a strong, cohesive flow for scrolling pages
• Provide links back to top if long scrolling (over 1.5/2 scrolls)

Lastly—and perhaps the biggest point to remember as you plan your site—provide all your information within three clicks from the landing page. Usability studies show that if a reader is required to drill down any more than three clicks, you may lose their interest. When your information does require the user to click to another area, use a one-sentence summary for the link. Note: longer links give more info, so it’s fine to create them using:

• associated text as clues
• trigger words to describe content
• different links to same content

Do try to avoid adding excessive links, however, as too much colored, underlined text can be distracting to your readers.

Above all, remember: we only have a few seconds to influence the reader. Make those seconds count!v

Here’s how:

• Sending a scheduled eNewsletter gets you—and keeps you—regularly in front of your target market. Be sure to provide plenty of information that’s specific to your industry, with a healthy dose of how your product or service provides what they need. In this way, your company can easily become synonymous with the solution to their issues, problems, wants, or needs.
• Provide tips, hints, useful information, and industry facts. Be truthful and honest, and your readers will trust what you have to say. If your advice is well founded, grounded, makes sense, and is creative, your audience will trust you. If it sounds like hype, it probably is—and your audience will know it.
• Consider providing some kind of value-add for subscribing to your eNewsletter. A free helpful-hint download, money-off coupon, or a free consultation or service is a great incentive to sign up—and it ultimately builds your business.

There are several media opportunities to get your message out; however, the quickest, most comprehensive, and most cost-effective way to reach the largest number of people is through the Internet. What’s more, building an e-presence is easy and you can gauge results immediately. We’ll narrow the focus to a few key components that, done right, will ensure optimal visibility for your new brand identity.

• Company name and logo: When determining what to call your business, plan to develop standard color and fonts—and don’t forget a logo. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to get a good one, either. Believe it or not, the Nike swoosh was designed by a part-time freelancer for $35! Just be sure it’s attractive, distinctive, and illustrates what you do. Also be sure that it translates well on the Web.
• Web site design: Don’t skimp here. Professional designs sell, and your Web site is no exception. If your Web site screams amateur, no one will take your products and services seriously. In fact, lots of research has gone into layout, readability, content, and functionality. If you can’t afford a professional site designer, check the Web for a designer who will work with you to set up a Web “shell” that you maintain.
• As we’ve mentioned in earlier posts, keep your Web information current and rotate it regularly. It’s one of the best ways to ensure plentiful search engine hits, and keeps interested consumers coming back. Stale Web content tells your readers, whether it’s true or not, that you’re suffering from an inactive business, inexperience, or poor focus.
• Consider sponsoring high-visibility or important clubs, events, organizations, and the like on your site. Search engines looking for that information stand a good chance of landing on your Web page if the information is current, refreshed often, and pertinent.
• Location, location, location: consider having a link, or an ad, on other credible, reputable Web sites that relate to your business and target audience, because this will promote your brand identity through association. Choose sites that already have an established trust relationship with their clientele—it will translate to you. Eventually your target audience will begin to recognize your name and logo, and you’re on your way to recognized brand identity.

In summary, brand identity is the recognizable core value of your business proposition. It’s who you are, what you offer, and how you satisfy your clients’ needs. Establishing a meaningful identity, and using it wisely and well through your own and related Web sites, is your ticket to successful brand identity awareness. Good luck and happy branding!

So, how do you go about creating a brand identity? Start with these simple steps:

• Identify what it is that you do.
  Boil it down to a core function or two. For instance, do you sell a product that quenches thirst? Offer a service that will save clients time?
• Identify your target market.
  Research, and spend time learning and understanding, the demographics of your audience—their typical age range, gender, education, workplaces, lifestyles, geographic locations. Learn what their goals are, what motivates them, and what drives them to action. Identify the emotional and practical quotients that your product or services deliver, and center your business plan around them. If you don’t have the time to do the research, you can hire a firm to do so for you.
• Determine what makes your business better than your competition.
  Is it that your products and services are better? Are they higher quality? More focused? Are you and your staff better skilled, educated, or experienced?
• If the concept of brainstorming works for you, go for it at this point.
  If not, take a more linear approach and create a flow chart or other process document. Either way, start writing down the descriptions, concepts, feelings, and ideas that describe or represent who you are, what you do, what your products and services offer, and why they’re better/faster/shorter/more accurate, or whatever. Don’t limit yourself—put down everything that comes to mind.
• Once you’ve identified these key business descriptors, hone them to a few core concepts that best define you and your offerings.  They should be broad enough to cover your entire strategy, yet focused enough to make one or two specific points. From here, you can create a strategy that positions your advantages to their fullest in the marketplace.

Let’s take an example. You sell vegetable seeds. Your seeds are unique—they’re packaged in eco-friendly materials, are organic, and are harvested and sold by local artisans. That’s your value proposition. Since environmental stewardship and healthy, organic food are your primary marketing goals, you’ll want to develop a brand identity that conveys this to your audience. You might consider a name like Peas of Mind, and make sure your site content, logo, and design mirror it. Basically, your goal is to capture your value proposition through your brand identity. If you’ve done your research as well, you’ll be able to target the right audience and speak to them effectively.

Finally, when creating your brand identity, never lie, exaggerate, or promise anything you don’t intend to, or can’t, deliver. Once you establish a relationship by delivering on your promise with integrity, service, and value, you’ll have earned your clients’ trust and respect. Remember: be true to your audience, and they’ll be true to you.

In the next article, we’ll talk about the best media to use to get your brand identity working for you.

Let’s begin with a basic premise: every company needs to define their value proposition. Your value proposition explains your raison d’être, and lets people know why they need to hire you, buy your products, or use your services. Remember, though, it’s not just your reason for being that’s important, but how you are an important element in the success of your clients and customers. According to Joe Marconi, author of The Brand Marketing Book, “Ultimately, successful brand building involves identifying with the customer’s desires and giving what he or she wants as to value (price and quality) plus the characteristics of image being sought, aspired to, or accepted.”

So in a word, brand identity is the VALUE to the consumer, customer, or client. It’s your significant point, your offering, and your integral benefit to someone else. Simply, it’s how your business helps someone else’s business, life, garden, health, wellbeing, focus, bottom line, reputation…whatever your product or service intends. That’s why it’s so important to consider your brand identity, or your core value, as your pivotal point from which to create your Web site, design your logo, create your advertising campaigns, and deliver your products and services. It’s how you communicate to your audience that your business, expertise, focus, delivery, and so forth are their best option.

Consider Coca-Cola®—there’s hardly a person in this universe that doesn’t know that name, and equate it with the bubbly, caramel-colored “must-have” pop that revolutionized the soft drink industry. The popularity of Coke virtually spawned a cultural movement of soda drinkers that’s continued for over a century. Coca-Cola’s brand identity, in fact, has evolved to the brand pinnacle it enjoys today: a world-recognized name for the product and the company itself, as well as a representative icon for the values it touts—real, refreshing, American, cool, hip, “the wave,” and “it.” In short, Coca-Cola has wildly succeeded in its brand identity because it has positively met both its consumers’ desires (why I think I want it—it quenches my thirst and tastes good) and image needs (what it means to me—by drinking Coke I am cool, etc.).

So we see that brand identity is a successful mixture of human interest, psychology, financial analysis, value proposition, and pleasing presentation. In our next article, we’ll share with you a few tips on how to begin identifying and researching your own unique branding.