Twitter chats provide a chance to network with others whether in your industry, area or fellow business owners. They help increase engagement on your account, get your business out to a wider audience and you can promote your products or services. Think of them as a networking event that you can participate in from your sofa. 

What actually is a Twitter chat?

A Twitter chat is where a group of Twitter users meet at a pre-determined time to discuss a certain topic, using a designated hashtag for each tweet contributed. 

Twitter chats are usually recurring and on specific topics or location to regularly connect people with these interests. 

A host may or may not ask questions to prompt responses from participants and encourage interaction among the group. Chats typically last an hour.

Why join in a Twitter chat?

There are some really good reasons why you would want to join in a Twitter chat

1) learn about a particular subject
2) Promote your products or services
3) Network with others in your niche or area. 

With Twitter chats, you have the ability to directly connect with other individuals who are specifically interested in the same topics you’re interested in. This makes it a great way to cultivate online friendships and to network with people.So far, this sounds like a great opportunity, right? So how do you join in a Twitter chat. I’ve broken the steps down below:

1. In the search bar type in the name of the Twitter chat hashtag e.g #woofwoofwednesday #earlybizhour
2. Ensure that you select latest to see the most recent tweets with that hashtag on
3. Include the hashtag for the Twitter chat hour on every tweet
4. Network and talk to others. Promote your products or services

If your more of a visual person, I've also created a very short video of how to join in. You can watch it here]

Help with joining in a Twitter Chat

There are a few things that will help you when joining in with a Twitter chat.

Always say hello to the host and check to see if there are any rules in place for the particular Twitter chat you are joining in with. 

Schedule a few tweets ahead of the Twitter chat hour so you can concentrate on networking rather than constructing tweets.
You can use scheduling tools such as Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Buffer, PostPlanner, MeetEdgar.  But ensure you always go back and reply to any comments on your scheduled tweets. 

Joining in a Twitter chat hour can be a little chaotic. So in order to help you a little you can use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck. With both Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, you can create columns where you can see the twitter chat feed, your notifications, messages and home feed. This is best viewed on desktop. 

What Twitter chat hours can you join in to help promote you business and make great connections? Please make sure you come say hello to me over on Twitter at twitter.com/woofwoofnetwork