WCBC is going to start hosting twitter chats! Twitter is a great communication tool, and Erin has started planning weekly Twitter chats that will take place on Mondays at 7pm starting on Monday, December 21st. We hope that the chats create a productive dialogue, while helping our members grow their twitter following. Before we launch our series of Twitter chats, we thought we should share some tips and tricks for participating in a Twitter chat.
The most basic question is how Twitter chats work. It is easy, everyone in the chat uses the same #hashtag. You sort by #hashtag to follow the conversation. Ironically, using Twitter to participate in a Twitter chat can be cumbersome because the #hashtag search updates slowly. Instead we recommend using tchat.io to participate in Twitter chats. You just type your #hashtag to follow along and participate in the chat. The best part is that the #hashtag is automatically included in your tweets! This is important since you need to use the Twitter chat #hashtag to participate in a chat.
Twitter chats are basically conversations about a specified topic, and they are an effective way of meeting people with similar interests. Find chats that are of interest to you. #BlogChat takes place on Sundays at 8pm, #CakeTalk is on Wednesdays at 2pm, #FoodieChats are on Monday at 8pm, #FoodTravelChat is on Wednesday at 7pm, and #PinChat – a chat about Pinterest is on Wednesdays at 8pm. If you want your participate to drive traffic your blog, pick a relevant topic. Or, if there isn’t a chat going on, you can join in on one of the trending topics listed in Twitters sidebar.
The best way to get more Twitter followers is to interact with others. Answer people’s questions. If you see a blog post you love, let the writer know – tag them in a post by typing @theirname and say you enjoyed the post and include a link. Another way to gain followers is to tweet at companies that have big followings when you feature their product in your blog posts. Or tweet about tv shows you love (especially if they are somehow relevant to the topic of your site).
The key to using Twitter is to remember that anyone can see your tweets. Always be polite. Remember that the more you use Twitter, the more followers you will gain. It is also important to have a visually appealing twitter page. Use a nice headshot and a link to your blog in your profile, and post photos to make your feed more appealing. Once you develop a twitter following you can use twitter to promote your site by tweeting out images and links to blog posts.
Don’t forget to join us for #WCBCChat on Monday 12/21 at 7pm Central – just add it to your calendar now so you will get a reminder!
