Twitter might not be up your alley on a personal level. If you’re not the kind of person who needs to tell the world what you’re having for lunch, that’s fine (and even applauded). But for some business owners, it is unwise to completely ignore the Social Media giant.

The first thing you need to know about Twitter is it’s free. And for business owners, free is good. But Twitter is a community, complete with its own language and established way of doing things. So even though you’ve created a profile, you’re not ready to fully harness Twitter until you learn to speak the language. If you follow these tips, those 140-character tweets could be worth their weight in free advertising.

It’s About Them, Not You
Yes you’re on Twitter to market your business, so at first glance this advice seems counterintuitive. But think about that one friend you have who does nothing but talk about herself. She talks about her kids, her hobbies, her vacations and doesn’t let anyone else get a word in edgewise. When somebody else does manage to speak, it seems she’s only waiting for them to stop talking so she can one-up them and hijack the conversation again. No one likes that person in real life, and the same goes for Twitter. So if the only tweets you send out are about your company, new people aren’t going to follow you and your current followers will drop you like a bad habit. Unlike real life with the messy drama that accompanies cutting a friend out of your social circle, all it takes on Twitter is an unfollow click.

Take an Interest in Others
Now that you’re not talking about yourself constantly, it’s time to engage with your audience. Use the search tab to find people interested in similar topics. It’s good to follow those people, but don’t stop there. Say hello. Introduce yourself. If they tweet a link to a good article, “retweet” it and send it out to your followers. If someone responds or retweets something you’ve put out there, thank them. And then engage them in some follow up discussion. You’re doing a few positive things here. First of all you’re being social. But more importantly, the back and forth is being seen by all of the other person’s followers as well. If their followers are interested, they’ll follow you. That’s how you build up your numbers.

Follow the Right People
Sure it’s fun to follow celebrities, but unless you’re also a celebrity it’s kind of pointless. Instead, find people/companies with similar interests who will benefit from the product or service you’re offering. More importantly, find the highly influential people in your field and try to harness their large number of followers. If you can get retweeted by a trusted Twitter user who has access to your coveted demographic, it increases your visibility and has the potential to bring in new customers.

Following Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher is all well and good, but chances are they’re not going to help with word-of-mouth.

Be Original
When was the last time anyone opened their mail and was blown away by a form letter? People aren’t dumb, they know a canned response when they see one. So while it might take some time, putting in the extra effort and individualizing Twitter responses is beneficial because it lets people know they’re talking to an actual human being. The ability to do this will depend largely on the type and size of the business you’re running, but a little effort goes a long way on Twitter and your followers will increase if you invest the time.

Keep It Simple and Stay On Point
It’s great to be opinionated and we all have different political beliefs. But as a business owner, if you’re trying to appeal to a broad range of people then talking about divisive issues probably won’t work in your favor. Again, it all depends on the type of business you’re running. But as a general rule it’s probably best to stay away from swearing and pictures that aren’t safe for work. Remember, once it goes out into the “Twittersphere” it’s there forever.