If you’re fairly new to Twitter, you might not have heard about Twitter chats. Twitter chats are a fun way to make new Twitter friends and learn about timely topics, and even increase your revenue.
When you participate in a Twitter chat, you label your tweets with a hashtag, which is the topic of the conversation. A hashtag has a “#” symbol in front of it and is the name of the chat. Go to Hashtags.org to see which topics are trending.
Here are my top 3 reasons to tweet in a Twitter chat:
1.Gain new followers of like-minded people: Join a chat, even just one time, and you’ll probably gain a few new followers simply by participating and being extremely supportive of others during the Twitter chat. But, even better: attend on a regular basis to make my next tip happen for you…
2.Increase chances of collaborating with like-minded people: After attending a weekly discussion on a regular basis you’ll get to know each other more and more and you’ll become online friends. Make it a point to take the talk offline: talk on the phone with at least one person you’ve met during the chats—someone you’re really drawn to and vice versa. I’m collaborating (actually working together or planning on working together) with a few people in different parts of the U.S. because I took the conversation offline and picked up the phone. I’ve also been interviewed for several blog-talk radio shows and blog posts because of great people I’ve met in Twitter chats. That’s what’s great about Twitter, and Twitter chats, in particular: you get to meet like-minded people whom you can work with on projects; hire for your projects; or be hired—all because I freely shared my expertise and was supportive of others, which is what I like to do anyway.
3.Self-improvement: I decided to write this blog post about Twitter chats because I’m starting my own chat this Wednesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. E. S. T. about setting a weekly goal and achieving it through the power of accountability from peers. The hashtag is #goalsetting. (Please join us and invite your followers). I love writing and teaching people about the Web, and Social Networking, in particular, but I’ve been letting my blog whither and die like a flower without water. (It was once a vibrant, beautiful thing but now it’s old and wrinkled). So I tweeted to my friends (my followers) that I was publicly announcing I would regularly write, at least once a week, in my blog. I also asked if anyone wanted to join my pact to achieve their own weekly goal. @SOYLAMAR (Reina I. Valenzuela) promptly chimed in.
Here’s a screenshot of the conversation that Reina and I had in Twitter, when we decided to start a Twitter chat about goal setting.
We’ll share tips to achieve goals; reveal what our weekly goals will be; cheer each on with supportive accountability “check-in” tweets, mid-way, and report back at the following week’s chat session on how we did. Be sure to check out Reina’s blog: DC Agenda: http://dc-agenda.blogspot.com/. (If you don’t read Spanish, you can open up her blog in Google’s Chrome browser and choose Spanish translation. Though it’s not as good as a human translator, you’ll get to read her posts.)
More Tips About Twitter Chats
The best way to “be” in a chat is to go to Tweetchat.com and enter the hashtag of the chat you want to participate in. You’ll see everyone who’s tweeting on that topic but here’s the best part: you won’t have to remember to add your hashtag on your tweets because Tweetchat automatically does it for you.
For some more great information about Twitter chats, read Mashable’s article.
Summary: Twitter chats are a powerful way to make new friends, gain more followers, educate yourself, be helpful to others and increase your revenue, when you find the right people to work with or hire to help you reach your goals.
