Here is your copy of Green Media Toolshed's Step by Step Twitter Guide that you were promised for your participation in the Public News Service call on Tuesday, November 17th. It will be available online until 12/23/2009. This guide will teach you the basics about Twitter and highlight the tools that will help you use this powerful communications tool to engage members and give your media contacts immediate updates about breaking news.

We know that Twitter alone is not nearly as effective as Twitter plus online tools that integrate with Twitter. This guide gives you an overview of Twitter and other tools that will improve your ability to send tweets, find your target audience and track Twitter statistics.

While the Twitter website might look simple there are several built-in features that make it a unique and powerful tool. For example, Twitter provides a place for cell phone and online communication to merge, but only if you enable your cell phone to accept SMS messages from Twitter. Our guide gives you clear instructions for activating your cell phone as well as other tips for navigating the Twitter website.

Once you are comfortable with the general Twitter interface, the guide will then advise you which of these features to integrate into your Twitter strategy. There are many Twitter-related tools out there and we know it's tough to decide which ones to use. Our guide outlines the options we think are most beneficial and tells you not only what you can gain from each tool but also how to set it up.

Almost of the tools mentioned in this guide are free so we hope you'll consider exploring them. If you're new to Twitter or could just use a refresher, the appendix also contains a basic list of Twitter definitions. The list is not exhaustive; it's just the important terms to get you started so you know the difference between a retweet and a tweetup.

Watch for an invitation to our upcoming Twitter Skill Building webinar, hosted by our Executive Director Martin Kearns, to find out how Twitter is different from other communications tools and why it is such an important tool for nonprofits.

We'd also like to hear your feedback the guide. Please send us your comments via Twitter - we can be reached at @theGMT.

Michelle Kohn
Special Projects Coordinator
Green Media Toolshed
(o) 202-659-7710 x13
(f) 866-875-5292
michelle@greenmediatoolshed.org
Twitter: @theGMT
Skype: kohn.michelle

Watch a 5 minute video to learn more about Green Media Toolshed. The words "5 minute video" should link to our screencast at http://www.greenmediatoolshed.org/tour.