Yes, I know I’m a little late in the game. Having seen references to Twitter all over the web in recent months, I finally decided to check it out and signed up this past Sunday. Twitter is a great, easy and fun way to interact with people – specifically for me, personal finance bloggers and blog readers.

What is Twitter

Basically, Twitter is a social networking website, but much simpler than Facebook or MySpace. You simply log-in to your account and type in your 140 character (or less) update to tell your friends and family what you are up to, what’s going on in your life, what you are thinking/doing/reading/watching/etc.

You begin by “following” other people – friends, family, classmates, etc. – subscribing to their updates. You interact by typing updates of yourself, and reading and replying to your friends’ updates. Eventually people will start following you. (Read to the end for a list of useful Twitter Tools and Tips.)

How Twitter Relates to Our Fourpence Worth

There is a great network of personal finance bloggers on Twitter. By following them, I can:

• Get to know my fellow personal finance and frugal living bloggers
• Know when new blog posts are published
• Discover new blogs
• Keep up with what other personal finance bloggers are writing about
• Keep abreast of personal finance blogosphere happenings – blog carnivals, group writing projects, blog networks, etc.
• Find interesting things to share with my readers [you]

Follow Me on Twitter!

I’d like to invite you to follow me on Twitter. It’s an easy way for me to get to know you, my readers, find out what’s on your mind, and hopefully be able to make this blog more useful to you by writing about topics that interest you.

My Twitter Page:
http://twitter.com/PenelopePince

Twitter Tools and Tips

Since I”m new at Twittering and these following resources have been useful to me, if you’re new – or even if you’re not new – maybe they’ll be useful to you too.

For Personal Finance Bloggers and Blog Readers

• A list of 118 Twitter Users Who Blog About Money (plus more under Comments)

Graphics

• Cute “Follow me on Twitter” graphics for your site, email signature, online profiles, etc.
• More cute Twitter Graphics and Icons (like the one above)

• Follow me on Twitter badges / logos / buttons (very artsy graphics)

For Bloggers

• Twitterfeed tells your followers about new blog posts using your RSS feed (requires OpenID)
• How to Use Twitter – Tips for Bloggers
• 9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers
• 7 Ways to Use Twitter to Promote Your Blog and Build Traffic
  
• The networking benefits of using Twitter
• 17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners
• 7 Ways to Use Microblogging Services for Traffic and Brand Exposure

URL Shorteners

Because each Twitter update is limited to 140 characters, you’ll want to use an URL shortener to save space.

• Tweeter Burner ties into your account and allows you to track how the links you share are doing (how many clicks)
• TinyURL seems to be the most commonly used URL shortener

More Twitter Tools & Apps

• Official Twitter Application Downloads Site
  
• Twitter Apps (Official Twitter Blog)
• Twitter Forge – Twittown
• Twitter Tool Box: 60+ Twitter Tools
• Twittermania: 140+ More Twitter Tools!

• Top 21 Twitter Tools and Help Websites

• Twitter Tools 2nd Edition

• Twitter Fan Wiki Apps
• Firefox add-ons for Twitter

Cool Stuff

• Twittervision – Shows you tweets being sent all over the world in real-time (ok, with a slight delay – less than a minute). I like the 3-D globe one that spins. It’s really fun to read all these tweets being sent all over the world in various languages.

Interesting Stuff

• Twitter as News-Wire

• Our Family Financial History
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #8
• Monopoly Game Expansion #1: Personal Savings Account
• July 2008 Finance and Frugality Blog Carnivals
• Interesting Reads from Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #7

• Ask The Readers - What Software or Tools Do You Use to Manage Your Finances?
• SEO Tips for Bloggers on WordPress
• Weekend Links: The Next Generation of Personal Finance Tools
• Confessions of a Personal Finance Blogger
• How To Start Money Making As Blogger ?

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