The absolute best way to learn how to use Twitter is to just start Twittering. This marketing tip is here to give you some limits that Twitter has imposed, so you don’t screw up. You can’t really do anything wrong. If you do, (like a misspelling) just delete it via the little trash can that appears at the end of messages when you hover you cursor there. The only important thing to remember is what you say. One Tweet out of taste can get you dropped off lists fast as a hot rock.

The Limits

Twitter has a list of limits on how to add, delete, etc. They list some of them on their site, and others I have found by trial and error. :0) So when starting up a Twitter account, make sure you know and follow these limits so you don’t get shut down.

• The first restriction is the 2,000 following limit. This is the number of people you can initially follow. There isn’t any restriction on the number of people who follow you, only on who you can follow. This limit is in place to stop people from trying to spam and follow everyone they come across in Twitterland.

• The second restriction is that you can’t make more than 1,000 total updates per day, on any and all devices (web, mobile web, phone, API, etc. ) This means you can only follow, Tweet, add photos or video, etc. 1,000 times in 24 hours. After that, Twitter will shut you down for 24 hours. If you persist, your account can be deleted permanently.

• The third restriction is that you can send only 250 total direct messages per day, on any and all devices. That’s a lot of chatting, so be happy. As before, if you go over that amount, you will be shut down.

• The fourth restriction is that you can only make 150 API requests per hour. So only follow and Tweet a total of 150 times in an hour or Twitter will shut you down for an hour. Then you can follow and Tweet again. I’ve found that the amount you go over the 150 decides just how long you will be shut down. For example: If you have a automated way of adding followers and accidently forget it and add 500, you get shut down for 24 hours. So keep an careful eye on your actions.

OK, those are the limits you need to know when you are starting an account. The rules change when you reach 2,000 followers, and that’s a good thing. The number you can follow after you reach 2,000 is based on a ratio that changes as the account changes. You can now follow 10% more than follow you. So keep your followers total handy at all times. 2,000 plus 10% means you can follow 2,200 total. If you have 5,528 followers you can follow 6,080. Get the picture? Go over that amount and you get shut down for an hour.

This works to balance your follower/following ratio. Basically, you can’t follow 50,000 people if only 23 people follow you. Based on current behavior in the Twitter community, Twitter has concluded that this is both fair and reasonable. It’s for your own protection.

Hope this Twitter marketing tip helps you grow your Twitter list easily and painlessly. Just keep an eye on the rules and you’ll have the most responsive list you’ll ever have and in a very short time.

If you’ve recently joined Twitter, you might be wondering if it can really help you drive traffic to your small business blog or website. If you don’t have a bunch of followers, it can seem like a daunting proposition! This Twitter marketing tip will show you that once you have followers, you can drive a ton of traffic to your blog or website using Twitter.

The first thing you need to do is add as many followers as you can. Now, please remember that Twitter does have a limit on this, and you need about 2,000 people to follow you before you’re able to follow lots more people. But, once you have a good amount of followers, it is as simple as the followers seeing a link to your blog or website and going there. People are on Twitter every hour of every single day, and you are likely to get lots of clicks from them when they want to see what you have to say there.

Now, when people land on your page, they need to be intrigued so they’ll want to read more and click on your links. This will help bring people into your sales funnel, and help get them interested in you and your blog or website. Be sure that your content is extremely relevant to the niche your Twitter account is based on. That way, you’ll be getting more targeted and focused prospects who are interested in exactly what you have to say and in buying what you are promoting.

The more followers you have on Twitter, the likelier it is that you will get tons of traffic to your blog or website. That’s why there have been several automated tools developed to help you get traffic more easily. Some of these tools will auto follow and unfollow people for you, so you don’t have to sit there all day and click people to follow. Click here to view more details or HummingBird 2 – By Far the Best Marketing Tool for Twitter!

Some tools will even post Tweets for you at predetermined times. It’s a great time saver, but please realize that Twitter seems to be cracking down on these methods a bit. You have to follow the Twitter rules at all times.

There are also products and sites that will help you generate content for your Twitter posts. There is one product that helps you set up content with Google for free, and it’s completely legal to use! You can also outsource your posts for a very reasonable cost. Using highly relevant content in this way is very hands off and can generate a lot of interest in the things you have to say on Twitter. Just be sure to keep it a mixture of great content and information, personal details about you, and just a few sales messages and you’re sure to get a lot of traffic. Keep it fun and keep it simple.

At first, it can seem slow to get the followers you need to give you lot of traffic. But then it snow balls and slowly builds momentum and starts rolling faster and faster and you’ll have thousands of followers who are all visiting your content loaded small business blog or website daily. This is a easy way to lead to some great profits for you online. Hope this Twitter marketing tip helps bring traffic your way.

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• Social Media, Blogs and Relationship Marketing (opencircle.co.za)