How to Set Up a Twitter Page

1. Go to Twitter.com

2. Click the "Sign Up >" button on the right hand side.

3. This brings you to a signup page with the title "Join the Conversation."

4. Enter the name of your business where it says "Full name." Twitter allows for 20 characters in this box, so if the name of your business is more than 20 characters including spaces, you're going to have to shorten it. Your full name on Twitter will appear beneath your username.

5. Next fill in your Username. Twitter only allows for 15 characters in this space, so you may have to shorten your username. (For example, "CharlesJosephScala" is too long, so I chose "charliescala" as my Twitter Username.)

 6. Enter a password.

 7. Enter an email address. I recommend using your primary email address. Keep in mind that if you create multiple Twitter accounts (which I recommend for businesses that have multiple brands and/or attract more than one demographic), you are going to have to use multiple email addresses. You can create a Gmail account if you create two or more Twitter accounts.

 8. Read the Terms of Service.

 9. Click the "Create my account" button

 10. A "Are you human?" prompt will appear. Type the words that appear in the box.

 11. Congratulations. You're officially on Twitter. Now type in topics that are relevant to your business. For example if you're a chef, you may want to "follow" Emeril Lagasse, The Food Network, and other chefs and cooking resources.

 12. Once you have chosen all of the people/interests that you'd like to follow and tweeted a few , the next step is to add your business contacts if you so choose. Click on step 2, "Friends." This brings you to a page where you can add contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail & Messenger, and LinkedIn. I recommend adding people that you know would find your content useful. If they "retweet" your content, it will help grow your following in their network.

 13. At this point, I would recommend tweeting a few times. Post content that is relevant to your business and useful for potential customers. (Sticking with the chef example, tweet links to great recipes, tweet a unique food of the day, etc.) Don't tweet about your weekend plans, the weather, or other things that aren't relevant to your business and what you are trying to accomplish with Twitter.

 (Tweet by clicking in the "What's Happening?" box, writing a short message that's 140 characters or less, and clicking the "Tweet" button.)

 Two vital tips for Tweeting:

 1. Put a hashtag (#) in front of words you wanted to be searched by. (ex. #HolidayRecipes)

 2. Provide links to your website, blog, and other sites you want your customers to view. If the URL is too long, go to tinyurl.com to shorten it so that you can fit your tweet into 140 characters.

 14. Next click on "Profile". And then click "Edit your profile -->"

 15. There are 7 tabs to choose from. Click on "Profile".

 16. This brings you to a page where you can upload a profile picture, add your location, website, and bio. Upload your company logo as your profile, type in your website, add the city you do business in, and write a short bio that describes why potential customers should follow you. (Example: Follow YourBusinessName Twitter for new recipes, unique foods of the day, cooking seminars, and other useful cooking tips.) Click save.

 17. Now click on the "Design" Tab to create a background for your Twitter Page. The background will appear behind the box that displays all of your tweets, followers, and other information.

18. To get started with a background, you may want to use your company logo as a tile background. You can do this on the "Design" Page by clicking "Change background image," clicking "Browse," and finding your company logo in My Pictures.

19.  If you'd like to be able to Tweet updates from your phone and receive tweets via texts, click on the "Mobile" tab. Enter your cell phone number and country and click "start" to proceed to the next page. Follow the directions by texting the word Twitter provides to the number Twitter provides.  This will allow you to update your Twitter Page from your phone.

 20. If you'd like to receive texts from certain users, click the phone icon on a user's profile page or your follower's page to set Tweet notifications for that user.

 Follow the