Twitter may seem like a relatively new player on the social media front, but the site is actually nearly five years old, having debuted in 2006. Now, Twitter has over 100 million registered users who are sending out a combined 55 million-plus tweets a day. Many people still see Twitter as a waste of time – but didn’t they think the same thing about the Internet, 15 or so years ago?

If you’re looking for a quick, concise way to reach a wide audience, Twitter may be your answer. Twitter’s strength lies in its openness and its numbers. Of course, those are its drawbacks, too. It’s so easy to connect with people on Twitter that it isn’t much of a commitment – at first, at least.

As a business owner, you should observe what the “average” user does – and then do the opposite! For instance:

• The average user has fewer than 100 contacts. Business owners aim to increase their reach.
• The average user’s tweet is “chatty.” Business owners strive to provide value.
• The average user hasn’t tweeted in the past week. Business owners want to stay active.

If you’re ready to commit to Twitter, one of the best things you can do is to enlist the help of one of the numerous third-party Twitter applications, such as Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, or Seesmic. These services allow you to track conversations according to numerous keywords, post on different profiles, and create tweets to post at a later time or date.

Here’s what you want to do in your 15 minutes a day:

• Post an update. As with Facebook, make your updates applicable to your audience. Provide a link to your latest blog post or an interesting factoid related to your market. (1 minute)
• Check out your new followers. If they look like appropriate contacts (i.e., not spammers), follow them back. (2 minutes)
• Respond to DMs, i.e., direct messages, and “@” messages. The latter are tweets aimed directly at you, but posted publicly. (2 minutes)
• Check your keywords and hashtags. Through the services suggested above, you can track keywords in your niche. Read what people are talking about and asking about; answer questions where you can, and join in conversations where appropriate. (5 minutes)
• Read your feed and see what people are talking about. Some of your followers will be chatting about your area of specialty; others won’t. Spend a minute or two joining a few conversations, even if it’s about last night’s Red Sox/Yankees game. (2 minutes)
• Retweet useful information. Did someone tweet a useful tool or a great blog post you think your market will love? Retweet it! You’ll generate good karma while providing great content for your followers. (2 minutes)
• Create a few updates to post to Twitter at a later date. Make it look like you’re on Twitter more than you are by creating a tweet or two and scheduling it to post later. (1 minute)

The key to Twitter success is brevity and consistency. Users’ feeds scroll by so quickly that if you’re not in the stream consistently, you’re going to fade into the woodwork. Yet if you’re out there with useful information frequently, you’ll build a loyal following.

Word of caution: If you schedule tweets to go out…do so in moderation and check to make sure that people did not respond to it.  HootSuite is my preferred method of keeping up with my social media.

“Social media” is defined by Wikipedia as “media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.” In laymen’s terms, social media helps people connect online. In popular usage, the term “social media” typically refers to social networking and sharing sites, including the following:

• Blogs
• Forums
• Image/Photo-Sharing Sites
• Video-Sharing Sites
• Twitter
• MySpace
• Facebook
• Linkedin

It has become the battle cry of the new Internet revolution that businesses MUST be involved in social media to succeed online. But with new social media outlets emerging and others going in and out of favor at an ever increasing pace, it can be hard to keep up.  And many online entrepreneurs find it a real challenge to know where to invest their time and how to leverage social media effectively. Many frazzled business owners are asking themselves and others the following questions:

• What social media outlets are best for my niche?
• How much time do I need to spend online to be successful?
• I’m so busy working IN my business – how am I going to Tweet, blog, and spend hours on LinkedIn too?
• Do people really care whether or not I’m on Facebook?

Sure, managing your social media efforts can seem frustrating and overwhelming at first glance. But fortunately, you don’t have to invest hours and hours posting tweets about what you ate for breakfast, or uploading videos of your cat to YouTube. In fact, you better skip those things.

Instead, approach social media with a plan, and focus on providing and sharing useful information while also interacting with your fans, friends, and followers.  If you do that, social media can be an effective and even fun part of your marketing mix.

In the next few blog posts, I’ll show you how to create a strategy that will maximize your efforts and minimize the time you need to invest. It won’t take hours a day either.  In fact, if you approach social media marketing with the right goals, tools, and strategies, you won’t have to spend more than 30 to 60 minutes a day in order to reap great benefits. Ready? Let’s get started!