Listed in this article are some more important Twitter functions, jargon, and URL shortener tools for making the most of Twitter. Please be sure to view Getting a Grip on Twitter Basics Part 1 where we cover more Twitter functions such as Tweets, @replies, and Hashtags#.

Direct Messages: Direct messages are used to communicate directly and privately with other Twitter users. Direct messages are commonly referred to as DMs within the Twitter landscape. If you would like to send a direct message to another Twitter user, Type D and then follow this with the Twitter user name for the person or company that you would like to direct message.

Since we are limited to 140 characters within Twitter, it is a good idea to shorten the length of links or URLs that you post within Twitter. The best way to do this is with a URL shortener. URL shorteners will shorten the number of characters in the posted URL to about 16 to 20 characters. Some of the more popular free online URL shortener services include tinyurl.com and bit.ly for squeezing down the amount of characters used in your URL. If you would like to track the amount of clicks that your shortened URLs generate and generate shortened URLs at the same time, then be sure to use twitalyzer to track your traffic.

Twitter is built around the concept of blogging, but comes with some restrictions that you would not have on your own personal blog. The biggest of these restrictions is that you are limited to 140 character in any of your posts. Twitter 140 character posts are often referred to as tweets in the Twitter world. This restricted space forces you to convey a concrete thought very precisely.

What is amazing about these tweets is that they are viewed around the world. You can create a Twitter post, tweet, in Pittsburgh, and your post can be read in India. It goes without saying that Twitter is one way to reach a global market quickly. Just imagine the possibilities of reaching out to customers around the world!

Your tweets can be sent to individuals or entire groups. As you can see, tweeting can readily speed up mass communication to potential and current customers. Imagine if you were running a sale or special promotion. In 140 characters or less, you could quickly get your message out and begin getting sales, but you will need to be careful with the frequency of running your sales posts through Twitter. Twitter is not the place for constant selling and spamming. No one will like what you have to say, and you will be ignored and when you really think about it, you don’t like nonstop sales messages either, especially from people that you have just met.