Twitter is an awesome platform because it allows you to attract new followers and awareness about yourself and your business- even though you are only allowed 140 characters to share something. You can add other users of your choice onto lists, reply to them, retweet them- and they will most definitely see it and most likely respond. Many business owners have been gaining new followers, more exposure and spreading their influence by joining or better yet, creating Twitter chats. This is a highly effective method to really get yourself out there by using Twitter. Twitter chats are scheduled chats designated with special hashtags in order to distinguish them for ordinary tweets.

Many Twitter chats on various topics are scheduled on weekly, bi-weekly and/or a monthly basis. If you become an active participant in some of these chats, that alone can give your Twitter presence a nice boost. I will give you several tips on how to make the most of your Twitter chats.

Join Different Chats that are Relevant to your Niche–

If you are a small business owner, it is a good idea to join several chats relevant to your field and be active on them. You can find scheduled chats on http://twubs.com/, http://twchat.com/ or http://tweetchat.com/. If you have been getting yourself familiar with these chats and have created new relationships as a result- you may be inspired to create and host your own chat. You will want to register your own hashtag on Twubs. More about that later.

Makes Notes on What you Want to Contribute in an Upcoming Chat–

If you are planning to participate in an upcoming Twitter chat, find out what the discussion will be revolving and brainstorm ideas on how you can be a valuable contributor to the chat. Even find links to blog posts you have written or links to other quality sources. That is a great way to attract new followers and to spread your influence, and to increase your Klout score the right way.

Find The Right People to Interact With–

When Twitter chats get busy it is very difficult to interact with everyone at once. Retweet valuable tweets that others put out so nobody is snubbed, however it is best to interact the most with 5 other tweeters in the chat otherwise you will become completely lost. Make sure those who you choose to interact with are the ones who are the most interested in speaking with you based on what you what you share.

Always Follow Up–

Make it a habit to follow the chat organizers on Twitter and after the chat, thank them. Be sure to interact with your target people later on by commenting on their blogs, engaging with them on other platforms retweeting their tweets, etc

Once you are familiar with what goes on in Twitter chats, again it is highly encouraged to create your own. Once again, register a hashtag that is relevant to your brand and unique at Twubs, and be sure to make it short and memorable. When you are ready to schedule a chat, share it across your networks. Tag some of your key followers on Twitter to let them know about your upcoming chat. Be sure to plan for topics that will spark interest, value and interaction- and decide how often you would like to host a chat. You can do it weekly, every 2 weeks or monthly. However, it is best to do it no less than once a month or else your chat will be forgotten.

Once and for all, I have decided to create a Twitter Chat and the hashtag will be #GetSocialChat. it will run on Wednesdays from noon to 1pm EST/9-10am PST, starting September 5, 2014. I will send reminders closer to the time. During this time up until then I will create a topic schedule and be sure to make it a valuable experience each and every time! Hope to see you there!