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Table of Contents Getting Started ....................................................................................................................... 3 Who Should You Follow? ...................................................................................................... 5 What Should You Talk About? ............................................................................................... 6 Making Tweeting Easy ........................................................................................................... 7 Top 10 People to Follow on Twitter for Canadian Auto Dealers ............................................ 8

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Chances are good that you know you should be using Twitter to market and network

on behalf of your dealership – most auto dealers are quite aware of the power

offered by social media, and Twitter in particular. However, chances are just as

good that you're a bit lost when it comes to actually putting Twitter to use on your

behalf.

You can put those worries and questions to rest. This book is designed to show you

how to get started with Twitter, to answer your questions about how to use it, how to

get followers and what you should tweet about. It will also show you valuable,

timesaving alternatives to using the web interface and much more.

Getting Started Using Twitter to your advantage isn't hard, but you have to sign up first. While you

might be a little bit unsure of the process, it's actually pretty simple. To start, simply

point your browser to Twitter.com. Here, you'll see the large yellow "Sign Up" button

on the upper right side of the page. Click that button and you're on your way.

Here's what you'll see after that:

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As you can see from the screenshot, getting started is pretty self-explanatory. You

do need to provide a name where it says "full name." However, that doesn't have to

be your name – the name of your dealership will work quite well.

Your username will be your "handle" on Twitter, and can be anything that you want,

but it might be best to use your dealership's name here, as well. Remember, this is

how people will identify you on Twitter, so choose your identity well.

You have another page or so of basic information to fill out now, including your

profile information. This should be short and to the point. You might choose to use

something that describes your dealership, such as "The #1 Dealer in Toronto" or

something similar.

Also, you have the option to include your website – do this! Putting your website on

your profile page ensures that any new followers have the option to go straight to

your dealer page from your Twitter profile.

You also need to upload a picture to your profile. This can technically be anything

that you want – the default is the Twitter egg picture. To change this, you will need to

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have a picture (.jpg, .gif or .png) no larger than 700k (which is very small). It also

needs to be rectangular.

The optimum dimensions for a Twitter profile picture is 73 pixels by 73 pixels, though

a larger image can be used because Twitter will automatically resize the image to fit

on your profile page (so long as it does not exceed 700k in size).

Who Should You Follow? Creating your profile should take only a few minutes, even with uploading your

profile picture. Now what do you do? Twitter is all about interaction, so it's time to

find some people to interact with. On Twitter, you follow others, rather than

"friending" them as on other networks. Your followed and follower count appears on

your page, in the upper right hand side.

Who should you follow, though? There are several different types of people that can

be valuable here. Perhaps the best place to start finding people to follow is by

searching for users in your local area. You can do this relatively easily.

The search bar at the top of your Twitter page can be easily used to find people in

your area. For instance, type in Toronto, and you will be presented with a list of

tweets that contain that word, as well as other options – the "People" link will take

you directly to user profiles related to your search terms.

You can also click the "Who To Follow" link in the menu bar at the very top of the

page, which will give you suggested people to follow. This can be a good place to

start. In addition to people in your own local area, you should follow industry leaders

on Twitter. For instance, Chevrolet is on Twitter, and most other automakers and

their CEOs have a Twitter account. Other industry leaders can also be found

relatively easily.

Finally, local business owners are also great people to follow and interact with. This

can give you more than just a window on your local community. It can actually open

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the door to networking for mutual benefit, and growing beneficial relationships in

your area.

What Should You Talk About? Now comes the part that most dealers struggle with – what do you talk about?

Actually, it might be simpler to first cover what you SHOULD'NT talk about, namely,

your deals. Wait, wait – you mean talking about our deals is out of the question?

No, that's not the case. The point is that Twitter is about real interaction with other

people. If all you do is talk about what great deals you have, then you're not going to

get very far on Twitter. This network is about growing your connections with other

people, and it takes more than low prices to do that.

What should you do, then?

Talk to Others: The most important thing to do is to actually interact with those you

follow and those who follow you. You do this by directing a tweet at the person in

question with their @username. So, if you wanted to discuss something with a user

named JoesCafe, you would simply type something like the following:

@JoesCafe Hey, sounds good to me. What time is the meeting tomorrow?

You're limited to 140 characters in your tweets, and that includes spaces,

punctuation and the person's handle to whom you are directing the tweet.

Also, when you connect with others and start real conversations, you will learn how

to help their business. In return, they will be able to help yours. Networking is the

name of the game, after all.

Retweet: One of the best ways to gain followers and to interact with others is to

retweet the tweets of others. Retweeting posts from other people does several

things. First, it shows that you are actually following someone for real content.

Second, it helps you provide interesting content for those following you, but not the

other person. Third, it shows that you do more than toot your own horn.

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Direct Message: If you want to send a message to someone, but not broadcast it to

all of your followers, you simply send them a direct message, or a DM. This is

received only by that person, and allows you to talk without cluttering up the timeline

for everyone.

Thank Others: When someone follows you, it is a good idea to thank them. You

can do this in one of two ways. You can either send them a DM thanking them for

the follow, or you can do it through a direct mention by using their @username.

As a note, some users choose to set up an auto DM that goes out to all new

followers, but this isn't a good idea. It removes the personal feel that comes from an

authentic thank you message, and can give your new follower the wrong impression.

Making Tweeting Easy Using the Twitter web interface might be fine for the first day or so, but eventually

you will discover its limitations. It can be very hard to keep track of your mentions

and direct messages, as well as entire conversations here. However, there is a

better way: using a third-party Twitter client.

Now, there are scads of different clients out there, including HootSuite and Seesmic.

One of the best options is TweetDeck, though, as it offers plenty of functionality, is

easy to use and can be configured with a wide range of different columns to help

you sort and organize your Twitter experience. You can also download TweetDeck

for your iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones, as well as the new TweetDeck

app for Google Chrome.

Here's a look at what TweetDeck for the desktop looks like. The blank area on the

right of the picture can hold two more columns, either Twitter columns or another

social network like Facebook.

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As you can see from the image above, there is a lot of functionality built directly into

TweetDeck. One of the best features is the fact that it comes with a link shortening

service built into it, which can drastically reduce the length of your tweets (since

URLs count in your character count). You can also schedule auto updates

throughout the day and night, and do quite a bit more with this free program. You

can download it at TweetDeck.com.

Top 10 People to Follow on Twitter for Canadian Auto Dealers While you are encouraged to follow as many people as possible and get new

followers, there are certainly some top picks out there. Below, you'll find the top 10

people to follow on Twitter for Canadian auto dealers.

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@TheDealerGeek: That's me! You'll find important tips on developing

online success for car dealers, as well as tons of useful, actionable

information.

@AutoDealerMag: Canada's leading magazine for new car and truck

dealers, dedicated to driving dealer performance and profits.

@DavidJohn_son: I love to laugh and spend time with my family. On

the side, I teach auto dealers how to use Social Media the right way.

@TimFelsky: Cars, comedy, business and technology.

@BobBurg: Speaker, Bestselling Author (The Go-Giver & Endless

Referrals), Loves Animals, Advocate of a Free Market Economy. New

book: Go-Givers Sell More.

@DavidLeger: Dad, Husband, Marketer, social media advocate, Soccer

Coach. Account Executive with Aspen Marketing.

@VelocitySales: Ed Brooks - Sales Director at vAuto. Specializing in

Automotive Internet Marketing. Helping Dealers Sell More Cars with

Real Data in Real Time.

@DealerRefresh: Automotive Internet sales and marketing

professional.

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@RyanrCarruthers: Car dealer professional from Mississauga

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