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This guest blogging post was submitted by Sharon from Piggy Bank Pie.

Unless you’ve had your eyes shut, you’ve probably noticed some momentum building around Twitter. People who didn’t get it (and I was one of those) are suddenly Twitterholics. They tweet all the time and get the shakes if more than a minute passes without an update. But what’s all the fuss about? Is Twitter just another example of social chatter that is destined to disappear without trace when the buzz is over? No-one really knows the answer to that question, but what I’ve observed is how some of the heavy hitters of the blog world are using it to create even more of a presence online.

Highlighting Good Work

One of the key uses is highlighting the content on your blog, or the resources that you are promoting. Of course, to be polite you have to take part in a lot of the non-promotional chatter, too. But you can post a link to your content and invite your fellow Tweeters to respond or to disagree. This tends to create a snowball effect, resulting in many posts on other blogs responding to your original posting. That expands your reach in the blogosphere and gets your blog known by some new readers. Don’t forget to share the love and point out some good resources from other people too.

Knowing You, Knowing Me

How that process works is at the heart of Twitter. If you like someone’s blog or their Tweets, then you follow them. You might get into a conversation with them (via Twitter, of course) and then their followers might tune into part of that conversation, see who they are talking to and decide to follow you in turn. This could in theory go on and on. Some Twitter members have trebled and quadrupled the number of followers within a week or less.

Taking Part In Group Work

Remember group writing projects? Well, Twitter adds a new dimension to those. Many bloggers use Twitter to take the pulse of the blogosphere on a new issue. A few weeks ago Darren Rowse invited us to tweet the links to our best posts. I picked up a few new followers just by doing that, and even more once he had published the results on his blog. I also got a few links from people who linked to the post from their blogs.

Do Unto Others

Twitter is a great place to get help - and to give it. I’ve had some of the people I follow help me with WordPress issues, and I’ve seen others using Twitter to sort out thorny problems. The beauty of it is that with a 140 character per message limit, there’s no wasted conversation. Just straight to the solution.

Overall, Twitter is a great place to connect with new people in an informal way. I’ve been able to chat with many of the people who read my blog and have made a few new friends as well. I’ve given and received help. I’ve learned a lot from following Darren Rowse, Chris Garrett, Maki and a host of respected bloggers and internet marketers. I’m definitely among the Twitterholics.

Feel free to follow Sharon on Twitter and join the fun.

Note from Collin: I am also getting my feet wet with Twitter, feel free to follow MixedMarketArts.com’s twitter as well.