In the new Space Age we know that almost everyone in the world has access to the internet and networking has moved into a new sphere. Having a social media presence is essential for any business whether small or large, but making sure you get it right can make a real difference as to how your company’s social media presence is perceived. So, here are our top ten steps to being successful on Twitter:

1)     Get the profile right – before you even think about following anyone or posting a tweet make sure your profile is branded with your company colours and logo. It may not always be possible to get the Twitter handle you want (the @ name you use on the site) but get it as close to your company name as possible – people need to know who you are!

2)     Use the biography section – people need to know who you are but more importantly what you do! Potential customers who already know your name may know your line of business but new customers (which is what Twitter will mainly bring you) have no idea. Make sure your bio contains buzz words that people may search for – but also reads nicely and makes sense!

3)     Get your website link up there – it may sound obvious but you need to have the link to your website in your profile so people can see it. Twitter is like a shop window for your business but people need to be able to go through the door.

4)     Follow people who are relevant – it’s very easy on Twitter to follow the celebs and comedy profiles but remember Twitter is a social networking tool, you need to be connecting with the people who will boost your business.

5)     Follow back and unfollow – to keep your account fresh and relevant you need to make sure the connections you make are two-way. Check your new followers and if they are someone who could be a potential customer or useful to your business follow back. Similarly keep an eye on who you’ve followed – if they don’t follow you back it might be worth unfollowing them.

6)     Get some software – whilst Twitter is an easy site to use, to maximise it for your business could be unnecessarily time-consuming. Investing in software like HootSuite or TweetDeck will allow you to set the manual, tedious things in process and leave you free to create wonderful content and read what else is happening in other people’s tweets.

7)     Create wonderful content – imagine Twitter is a networking event. What do you want to be saying? What do you want people to know? It’s good practice to have about 10% of your tweets as promotional and 90% as other. So tell people interesting things about your line of work, quotes and re-tweets. A variety of content makes you a well-rounded, interesting Tweeter and means your followers stay with you, re-tweet you and get you new followers.

8)     Re-tweet and Favourite – if you want to be noticed by other Twitter followers engage with their content and re-tweet things you find interesting or relevant. Favouriting a tweet adds it to a list on your account and keeps it so it doesn’t get deleted. It’s good idea to use these for complimentary tweets about your business as a kind of Twitter testimonial page.

9)     Get listing – you can create lists on that allow you to see tweets from only the people on that list. This is a really useful feature as you can organise tweets and find relevant information quickly without having to scan through everyone on the timeline.

10)  Time your tweets – statistics have shown that most re-tweets happen between 3-7pm so it’s a good idea to be putting tweets out at these times as you’re more likely to get re-tweeted and reach more people. You can analyze how effective your tweeting is and when you get the most activity by visiting sites like http://timely.is and www.tweriod.com