Last night I participated (a bit) in my first Tweet Chat. What’s a tweet chat? A group of people (Twitterers) decide to “meet” at a set time and use a hashtag (such as #sbbuzz) to connect. And chat.

What is #sbbuzz all about? First of all, that # sign in the front means it is a hashtag. You will see hashtags all over Twitter. Hashtags are a sign that this may be a topic of interest to others in the general Twittersphere. Anyone can create a hashtag. #sbbuzz stands for Small Business Buzz (and that link will take you to the sbbuzz blog). You can also follow sbbuzz on Twitter. #sbbuzz chats are held every Tuesday night, 8pm–10pm EST (I think that should be EDT now, but it says EST on the blog).

How did I find out about the Tweet Chat? Much thanks to NJinsuranceGirl for tweeting about #sbbuzz. I found NJinsuranceGirl (Kacy Campion Renna) because jerseybites recommended her on Friday for #followfriday (what’s #followfriday? That’s a whole ‘nother topic: go on Twitter on any Friday and you’ll see lots of these #followfriday tags that are suggesting people to follow on Twitter). I met jerseybites in person last February when I attended a TweetUp. Last night, when I was nowhere near my computer, NJinsuranceGirl sent me the following helpful link via Twitter: http://sbbuzz.biz/instructions. I got on late (at about 8:50 pm EDT, and they had started at 8 pm), and I spent the first ten minutes reading those instructions and trying to figure out the best way to access it all.

What was discussed at the #sbbuzz chat? The topic this week was Insiders Tips for Small Businesses on Twitter. sbbuzz tweeted these questions during the course of the two hour chat:

• Q1. What advice would you give a small business owner brand new to Twitter?
• Q2. What should businesses talk about? What are businesses doing on Twitter?
• Q3. Any good resources for Twitter how-tos, reference guides, etiquettes, etc?
• Q4. Is your local community (govt/academic/private) doing anything to promote entrepreneurship/small business? What is working?
• Q5. How do you find time to stay involved, engaged and contributing to online and offline networks?
• Q6. How many social media networks do you actively participate in? Do connections overlap? How do you keep track?

There was more, but you get the basic idea. I felt since I was new to the “party,” I mostly read what others had to say (and I picked a few to follow regularly), but I did tweet this in response to Q6: “Q6 Social Media networks: Twitter, my own blog, Facebook – I’m on LinkedIn, too; much overlap because of my own blog. #sbbuzz”

Want to know what people had to say? For a while, this will be available by going to http://search.twitter.com/ and typing #sbbuzz. But if you are looking at this post on May 27 or later, you will see the #sbbuzz for that week. A summary is now posted at http://sbbuzz.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/small-biz-tech-advice-resources-may-19-2009/.

Have you ever participated in a Tweet Chat? Used a hashtag in Twitter to follow a topic with others? How would you answer any of the above questions? What questions would you ask?

On Tuesday I attended my first meeting of a local networking group, BNCJ. I found the other attendees friendly and informative, and I look forward to joining the organization. There was a lawyer, a home inspector, a contractor, a travel agent, a financial services representative and an stock broker. And me, the web designer! Or web builder, as I sometimes call it. Design is only a small part.

At one point I mentioned Twitter, and some of other people had never heard of it. “Twitter? Is that like Facebook?” Actually, it’s much easier to use, I responded. Instead of connecting with people you already know, it’s easy to meet new people. I cautioned them not to use Twitter for direct sales (you will get unfollowed fast if you are too pushy). The people I follow want to have intelligent discussions on a variety of topics.

Yesterday I posed the following question on Twitter:

Shimon responded: “answer (IMO): yes if they have tips and promotions (like make up tips for women or computer coupons). Women oriented should b better”

liajen (aka Jennifer Fong) responded: “I believe it can. You just build your targeted niche through local searches (such as with twellow) & build relationships.”

What do you think? How can a local business use Twitter?

When you hear about networking, what comes to mind? At first, I thought of planting a seed for a tree and watching the tree slowly grow. But I don’t care for that analogy, because when you plant seeds for say, an apple tree, it may grow slowly, but in the end you get: apples. When you plant networking seeds, you might get apples or oranges or watermelon or rotten tomatoes. Or all of the above. So maybe magical seeds with unknown results?

Last week I blogged about a local TweetUp, where I met a variety of people who connected via Twitter. One of the organizers of the event, Eva Abreu, asked the following question this week on Twitter (F2F = Face to Face):

If you’ve attended a Tweetup or other F2F networking event, what tip would you give someone who is going for the first time?

•  •  •

I responded with a brief tweet, part of which said “bring a smile.” Then I emailed Eva these ideas:

1. Think before the TweetUp:
What do you want to accomplish?
If you have unrealistic expectations, you may be disappointed. On the other hand, you could also plant some good networking seeds.

– You probably won’t make direct sales. You might, but you also might annoy others who are trying to promote their businesses, too.
– Make contacts with people in fields related to your own? Different from own? Be open to new ideas.
– Look at the Twitvite to see who is coming. If you know a little about each person, that will help with meeting others.

2. During the event:
Introduce yourself to as many people as possible in the room. Smile. Bring business cards. Ask them questions about their business or hobbies or what brought them to the TweetUp. Listen carefully to other conversations, and try to share something related when the conversation pauses.

3. After the TweetUp:
Follow on Twitter those that made an impression on you. If there is a hashtag for the event, such as #cnjtu, follow it using search.twitter.com or by dedicating a column in TweetDeck to a search of#cnjtu. Assuming you collected a variety of business cards, you can try emailing anyone who doesn’t appear to use Twitter much with whom you want to connect. Read others’ Tweets, and respond to some of them by asking questions or retweeting. Let the seeds grow slowly. Some people are more open to sharing ideas than others. Some may be busier at different times of the day/week and more available at others.

Try to attend another TweetUp, too, and encourage any friend who might benefit.

•  •  •

What would you suggest to someone about to attend a networking event? Have you ever been to a networking event? Or a professional event, where you don’t know any of the other people, but want to get to know them better?

Eva and Jennifer Fong, another organizer of our local Tweetup (see her latest post on social capital), will both be on blogtalkradio speaking about Twitter Tweetup Tips on Friday, March 6 at 11 am EST. Should be an interesting 15 minutes!

Yesterday I attended my first TweetUp. What’s a TweetUp, you ask? Well, you know how I’ve been chirping chatting on and on about Twitter. And I blogged about connecting with New Jersey locals on Twitter. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting these people in person: @rongraham1 @ScottBradley @JerseyBites @annie_lr @K9Confections @mikeconaty @Alig7 @SusanLevinson @liajen @Eva_Abreu (organizer of the event!) as well as Paul Grzella and Skip Hidlay of the Home News Tribune.

And if this isn’t enough, Scott Wyden (who wasn’t at the TweetUp) is working on a New Jersey Twitter List. Live in New Jersey? Go sign up on Scott’s list!

Update, more local news: TweetUp FieldTrip @garyvee‘s Wine Library Mon3/23, 6PM Springfield NJ Twitvite: http://twtvite.com/5jy7l3