I’m getting back to one of the most popular topics in my world lately, and that’s Twitter.

What would you like to know about Twitter?

Is there some terminology you don’t understand?

Are you curious about which applications you can use to extend it?

Wondering how to figure out who to follow and who not to?

What else would you like to know about Twitter?

Please leave your questions in the comments. I promise to group them all up and find the answers for you soon.

Question Mark courtesy of Marco Bellucci

Guest article from Chris Perry, Career Rocketeer founder.

NOTE from Phil: I got introduced to Chris when he featured me as one of the 150+ Experts on Twitter ALL Job Seekers MUST Follow. I was impressed with the time he took to create this list, and the care he took to really talk a bit about each person he profile. I quickly realized this was someone to learn from, so I asked him to write a guest post and he asked me to write one, so here goes his fantastic article.

Bloggers from across industries and areas of interest are always seeking new ways to reach greater audiences with their articles and gain increased recognition for their expertise.  Developing your reputation as a blogger often takes a lot of time, effort and patience through consistent publication of valuable content.

Because we live in an age in which we are being bombarded by more and more information on the screen, it is increasingly important to be able to convey the content of your blog in a concise and visually pleasing manner that visitors can swiftly survey and assess.  One way to generate more buzz for your blog (i.e. attract more visitors and get talked about) is to compile and publish critical information in lists.  A list appears shorter and more organized on the screen.  Furthermore, lists are easier for busy professionals to digest on-the-go.

You can create buzz-worthy lists on just about any topic that is relevant to the theme of your blog. Even when you are not specifically writing a list, you should think of ways to break down your articles into bullet points or shorter parts to make them more quickly digestible for your readers and in turn, increase the potential for them to go viral.

The following is itself a list of some ways to generate buzz for your buzz-worthy blog content:

• LinkedIn offers a number of ways to promote your blog content.  First, place a description and a link to your new article in your LinkedIn profile status.  Second, join LinkedIn groups (maximum limit is 50 groups) that are relevant to your industry or areas of interest, and,  where appropriate, submit the article link to each group’s News section.  Third, if you own or manage your own group, you can send the link out in your weekly announcement to your group members.
• Facebook is not the ideal syndication platform for your articles; however, you can also use your profile status to link friends to your article.  If you have a Facebook group or fan page for your blog or website, there you can create a link to your article for your members or fans.
• Twitter offers you the opportunity to “tweet” or broadcast a short description of your article and its link to your followers.  While you should never overtweet anything, you may choose to tweet this to your network at a couple different times of day throughout the week to provide your followers more of an opportunity to see content of interest to them.
• Business Exchange, by BusinessWeek, is a great resource for reading material that is relevant to your areas of interest.  It is also a place where you can syndicate specific articles from your own and other blogs and websites.  You can submit your article to multiple topic categories for increased readership.
• Ning networks within your areas of interest offer you forums where you can share your article content and links to your blog.
• Newsletters are great channels for the distribution of information.  If you maintain an email list of consenting newsletter recipients for your blog or website, your newsletter can be a great place for you to include a link to your article.
• MOST IMPORTANT:  If your lists or articles feature people, blogs, websites, services, organizations , books or anything associated with someone who would value such press or promotion, don’t forget to contact them by email, LinkedIn message or Twitter direct message to let them know about their coverage and politely request that they promote it to their own personal networks.  We all appreciate recognition (you wouldn’t be reading this article if you didn’t) and we are often more willing to do something to help someone else if it also helps us, too.

Chris Perry is a Gen Y Brand and Marketing Generator, a Career Search and Personal Branding Expert and the Founder of Career Rocketeer, the Career Search and Personal Branding Blog.

When folks ask me how to explain Twitter to them, I invariably share some variation of this story:

Think of Twitter as a cocktail party with 100 people in the room, with 100 separate conversations.

You might be interested in what 10 folks have to say, so you listen to what those 10 people have to say.

If you think the people who you’re talking might be interested in what someone else is saying, you share what you heard, giving the person who said it credit.

You’ve learned what you can with the people you’re talking to, so you change conversations to someone else, then someone else, and eventually, you hear conversations from 30 people in the room. Those 30 people are listening to the other 70 people in the room, and occasionally they share what someone else says, so you listen to a new person.

Sometimes someone took a picture and they pass you their camera or cell phone so you can see the picture.

Before you go, you agree you’ll keep in touch. When you get home, you can listen in on their conversations. When they say something of interest, you can engage in the conversation, just like you were right there. Because you connected with them before, you can share interesting stories, pictures, and conversations with those people that found you interesting. You may also talk about something other people are interested in, so they might listen to you too.

If you want to whisper in someone’s ear, you can do so, and they can whisper back, or you can just listen.

Though the box at the top of the Twitter homepage says “What are you doing?” think of it instead as “What are you interested in talking about?” or “What am I paying attention to?”

That’s Twitter in plain English.

Any questions?

Is this helpful? How would you explain Twitter in plain English to someone who was interested in learning more?

I can’t find the link or the e-mail, but if memory serves, Julie recently asked me how to use Twitter for the job search and how you might do this most effectively.

I’m not looking for a job, so I did some research into how folks are using Twitter for job searching, and I came up with what I think are 10 top tips. I’d love to hear your feedback after you’re done reading.

Search for job specific keywords and follow some of those people – The more specific you can make your search, the more relevant results you’ll get. The folks who use those terms (in the right context) are folks you want to know more. Follow them and you can use Twitter to get a job.

Follow industry leaders – Who do you know that’s a thought leader in the industry you are in or want to be in? Follow them to listen and learn from them.

Follow local leaders – Are there any local folks in the industry you want to get into? See if they are on Twitter, and follow them to see what they are talking about and see what you can learn from them.

Follow folks at a specific company and learn what the culture is like – Maybe you know a few folks at the company you want to work at. If they’re on Twitter, follow them. If you don’t, use Twitter search to look for them, or look on their corporate site for some names and search those out. You may not find anyone…or you just might find the one person who’s willing and able to help you find a great job!

Follow @jobangels and follow the hashtag #jobangels – Job Angels mission is simple: they ask you to simply help one person find a job! If you have a job to offer, share it by sending a direct message to them, or by tagging it with the hashtag #jobangels They will do the rest.

Share relevant links and Re-Tweet when applicable – There’s no better way to show you are on top of trends than to share what you’re learning with the folks in your network. Add in a Re-Tweet (click here to learn what a re-tweet is and how to do it right) and you’re not only sharing good information but sharing good people too.

Create your own content about your specialty and link to it – This is a bit of a combo tip, as it also requires you to write a little bit of your own content, and not just use Twitter.

Look for hashtags that talk about conferences in your specialty – If you’re follow someone you admire, and you see a #hashtag, click the link and see what they are talking about. This will help you find upcoming trends in your specialty, and find other folks who may not yet be leaders in their industry…or they may be folks that are not yet known as leaders in their industry but who are up and comers.

Ask for help connecting to the decision makers – Do you see any of your Twitter friends connected to folks you want to get in front of? Make a specific ask, best by DM (Direct Message but public may work too) for an introduction and see what happens.

Alert your network you’re looking for a job at least once a week – Throw out a Tweet now and then, at different times of the day, asking for help finding a job. I’d recommend incluing your location, your desired position, a link to your resume or LinkedIn profile, and a request to share this with others who can help. Here’s an example: “Help needed: MKE based social media guy looking for new role. Know anyone who can help? Resume at http://is.gd/10VWQ Pls RT” might be all you need to get someone’s attention and assistance. Picking different times of the day means you’ll hit different parts of your network, and different folks in your network will re-tweet to folks on their network, thus expanding your reach.

What’s YOUR best tip to searching for a job using Twitter?

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