How to Network Effectively with Twitter – part 3

[tweetmeme]Twitter can be a little intimidating for even the most outgoing person. After all, you only have 140 characters to get your point across. And if you’re a shy person, that can be a tough obstacle to overcome. It’s hard enough trying to think of something to say, let alone keep it short! That’s why retweeting is such a powerful tool.

Retweeting: Endorsing Other People’s Content

If you don’t know what a retweet is, it’s essentially passing along someone else’s tweet to your own followers. Guy Kawasaki, columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine and a big Twitter guru, calls retweeting the sincerest form of flattery online. And I couldn’t agree more. You’re giving an ego boost to the originator of the tweet. And it shows people that you’re not just focused on sending out your own content. You’re essentially telling all of your followers that you think this tweet is good and are encouraging them to click through.

There are two ways to retweet on Twitter. When you come across an interesting post you’d like to share with your followers, roll your mouse over to the lower right hand corner of the post and you should see the word “retweet” pop up like this:

The other way to retweet is to type the letters RT before the Twitter username and then include the rest of the post. Example: RT @Johndoe Interesting blog article about retweeting. http://bit.ly.sample

Add Your Own Comment to the Retweet

Now, there is a trick to using the retweet as a networking tool. Add your own comment to the retweet whenever you have room. (Remember that 140 character limit!) That will help encourage a dialogue. Also, be sure to notice how others engage with people and go ahead and copy the ones you like.

You do need to be careful about retweeting. Make sure you’re passing along good quality content, otherwise, you risk losing your followers, and your opportunity to connect with people you want to do business with.

In the next part of this Twitter networking series, I’ll demonstrate the power of the “shout out.” If you missed the beginning of this series, part one dealt with , and part two dealt with.