Warning: Twitter use can be highly addictive.

Twitter is a micro-blogging site that is kind of like an enormous IM conversation that goes on every minute of every day.  That’s right 24/7 you can log on to Twitter and talk to people from all over the world and tell them one thing…What you are doing.  There doesn’t have to be anything meaningful or memorable behind what your doing, but just telling people gives them a chance to get to know you and what you do.

The way it works is that you get an account (free of course) and then start searching for people you know on Twitter and ‘follow them’.  Once you follow someone every time they update what they are doing, you’ll be able to see it.  

Here’s what a typical day on Twitter looks like…

Now that you are following people, you’ll want people to follow you.  This isn’t as hard as it may seem.  Twitter is still a very new network, so the best way to get involved is to:

Participate
Start by telling people what you’re doing.

Reply
On Twitter all you have to do is reply to other users with a comment or an answer to something they may have asked and then your response will appear on their Twitter feed so the people that follow them will see that you are active on Twitter and some will follow you just because of that.

Be Funny
Most users enjoy Twitter just because it’s kind of a break from the norm.  If you say something that people will think is funny it’s likely they will follow you because well, who doesn’t like things that are funny?

Be Real
There is not much room for anonymity on Twitter.  If you’re having a bad day, say it.  If you are stuck on something you can’t figure out, ask for help.  You’ll be surprised at how many responses you get. 

Use the Tools
There are tools that make Twitter easier to keep up with which can save a lot of time during the day.  I like Twhirl. You can download it from the Twitter blog.  It basically shows a little pop-up window whenever your Tweeples (Twitter friends) tell you what they are doing.  Twitter also gives you a badge that you can add to your blog so people that go to your blog can see what you are doing.  They may not have ever heard of Twitter, but they’ve heard of you and if they see the badge they may join and hopefully follow you.

That’s not a lot to get started.  Once you grow your network you’ll see what other people are doing to leverage Twitter.  There are many opportunities to market yourself or your brand on Twitter.

If you don’t already have a Twitter account for yourself or for your company.  I highly recommend you register it now before your competition does.  Currently Twitter has approximately 1 million users.  While many of those are probably not active or maybe they are Twitter zombies, I’d venture to say that the majority are using Twitter daily.

Once you join FOLLOW ME!