Twitter enables Internet marketers to promote their websites while developing relationships with prospective customers. One of the most effective ways to get attention for your site while communicating directly with your followers is to engage in a public “chat” with people in your network.

Add an @ and Make Your Conversation Public

To start a public chat, simply type the @ symbol before the Twitter username of the person you would like to chat with. When you insert the @ symbol before someone’s username, the name becomes a link to that person’s profile. Your comment will also appear on the homepage of the person you are “chatting” with, as well as on the home pages of all of their friends. This type of Twitter chat is similar to Instant Messaging, but posted publicly where all of your friends can see.

Use Twitter Chat to Connect with Big Names in Your Industry

Engaging high profile people in a Twitter chat is far easier than connecting with those same people via phone, e-mail or snail mail. As described above, simply add an @ sign before the username of the person you would like to connect with, and then share your thoughts. If you make your Tweets interesting and insightful, you are likely to get a response – and that response will appear on your page, giving you increased credibility. The beauty of connecting with big names this way is that even if the target doesn’t respond to your message, your tagged post will appear on that person’s home page, which likely receives more traffic than your own page.