Twitter: 8 Reasons Why It’s The Blogger’s New Sidekick

I have recently jumped into the Twitter madness—check out my Twitter page if you don’t believe me. Not only is it a fun addiction, it is actually a useful tool for bloggers as well. So, why should you even bother with Twitter? Did I mention it is an addiction?

Ah yes, it is that very site which provides you the opportunity to express yourself within 140 characters or less. Twitter is quickly becoming a big deal, and it is an opportunity for bloggers to reach out interactively with others. Think of it this way—no longer must you sit and wait for people to visit your blog. You can connect to people instantly.

Many people don’t even understand why Twitter is so appealing (others don’t have the slightest clue as to what it is), but those that realize the true potential of Twitter will have another tool at their disposal to help them build their image, reputation, community, availability, etc.

Twitter was designed to be a mini-blogging service, but that is only the beginning; it has many more potential uses and benefits. Now is the time to consider joining the fray!

Why Tweet?

1. Loyalty and Respect

If you want to be a popular blogger, there are ways to build up loyalty within your readership—one that is relatively easy to accomplish is by making yourself accessible to your readers. Twitter is probably one of the most exciting and interactive ways to do just that. You are accessible, you show that you are openly responding to people, and you become interested in your peers’ activities. You will earn respect and loyalty by many people this way.

2. Marketing

Face it, if your going to reach the top, you have to market yourself and your products. Today, consumers are slowly (and I mean very slowly) becoming smarter when it comes to marketing, but it still has to be done as most people eat it right up. Everytime you publish something, you are marketing yourself as a legitimate source of information and/or entertainment. Twitter gives you the opportunity to raise awareness about your own projects, and that is essentially what marketing is.

3. Simple, Effective, Concise

The effectiveness of Twitter to generate conversations and interaction with such limitations is astounding. This article is going to easily surpass 4,000 characters, but a Twitter entry is at max 140 characters. That’s a huge difference, don’t you think? The simplicity of Twitter is one of its main appeals to people. It will take you a few seconds to compose a “tweet.” If you will recall my previous article about being concise, you could teach yourself plenty about that by simply using Twitter for awhile. For those limited on time, Twitter is better than nothing (meaning a personal blog).

4. Idea Generation

All bloggers could use more ideas, and with Twitter, I have been able to find them. I have already came up with several ideas from articles that friends of mine have posted on Twitter. As you start following more people, the useful content becomes much valuable; that will generate ideas. Oddly enough, using Twitter inspired me to write this article! Twitter can also act as a way to exchange information between people, instantly.

5. In the Now

If you follow people that post useful content on Twitter (e.g. links to news stories or great blog entries), the opportunity constantly arises to blog about it before others. I sometimes feel like Twitter has replaced my RSS feed reader as I receive links to great content from people I follow. It is only a matter of time before people are hired to post links to great content on Twitter for others to follow. It certainly has earned a few people several thousand followers already.

6. Raising Social Awareness

Being a great blogger means you need to have some level of social communication. Now, I am not big on talking on today’s instant messaging clients—as a matter of fact, I generally avoid it, but Twitter is something that gives me the opportunity to pass up something if I don’t want to be bothered. Recall anyone who just won’t stop talking to you on Yahoo! Messenger? Unlike an instant messaging client, where it pops up and bugs the heck out of you, the conversations on Twitter are generally short and quick, but you can get your point across. I believe that it is more productive than having something like MSN or Skype running.

7. It’s the Future

When it comes down to it, services like Twitter are the future of social networking. You are connected to people instantly, and that is what people want. If Twitter ever grows into a massive site like Facebook, wouldn’t you be thankful that you took advantage of the earlier growth to build up your status? Fortunately for all of us, chicks absolutely dig early adopters!

8. It’s a Blog!

All of this aside, in the end, Twitter is a blogging service. We bloggers love to blog, right? Therefore, if we are given the opportunity to blog, we tend to do it. Twitter is one of the easiest ways for people to blog without having to put in several minutes to hours of work like a regular blog. It couldn’t hurt!

Wrapping It Up

Let’s keep in touch as all of the Performancing crew has Twitter accounts:

• Ryan Caldwell
• Chris Garrett
• Raj Dash
• James Mowery

I’d love to connect with all of you that visit Performancing; I am always up for a discussion about blogging, and while many might believe Twitter is just a huge bandwagon, I think it is genuinely useful for all of the reasons stated above.

If you love to Tweet, let us know! If you have any other reasons why Twitter is a great tool for a blogger, also post it in the comments section.