After quickly becoming one of the top social networking sites online discussions just as quickly turned to how to use twitter to grow a business. The micro-blogging site allows twitter users messages up to 140 characters in length forcing members to say more with fewer words.

Your effectiveness in using this site for the purpose of growing a business is based upon the number of people you have direct access to. On Twitter this is measured in terms of the number of 'followers' you have.

The fastest way to increase your twitter following is to be 'awarded' the coveted 're tweet' Essentially this is nothing more than having one of your 'tweets' repeated around the site. For this to happen you must tweet something others may think is interesting for whatever reason. They then in turn will 're tweet' what you said to their own twitter following. If their followers think it is interesting enough they will follow you.

Here are 5 factors that play a major role in whether or not you will get a re tweet.

Time Your Tweets

There are particular times of the day and even days of the week when twitter users most heavily populate the site. It is at these times that you want to release your 'best' tweets. Research indicates that Friday is a very heavy user day and that the afternoon up till midnight and on weekends is when the site experiences the most activity.

Personalize Your Tweets

When tweeting something you think is 'retweetable' personalize it with the appearance of speaking directly to the individual. Addressing members by using the word 'you' tends to draw their attention more readily to the tweet. Using a word in such a way helps to better 'engage' readers since it appears to be directed at them.

Refer to Trending Topics

If you are looking to get your comments repeated on Twitter it only makes sense to choose a topic that is popular. By simply referring to the trending topics on the site you can easily see what the current 'hot' topics are. This is a very effective way to increase your re tweets and twitter following.

Insert a Link

Since tweets are limited to only 140 characters it can be a challenge to stir the attention of other twitter users sending a message so short in length. Now however if your message was to refer to a more extensive and intriguing piece of content you would likely capture more attention.

By linking to a site or content in your tweet you are increasing the curiosity of others to click on and view it. Linking in this way also allows you to send a message or tweet that is more comprehensive and carries a bigger impact than a mere 140 character tweet.

Obviously due to the character limitations of the site you always want to shorten your links. This also gives you more characters to use for the message in your tweet.

Avoid Overexposure

Do not make a habit of frequently using links in your tweets since people will not associate as much importance to them if they see so many. Save your links for only that content that is worth being re tweeted.

Learning how to use twitter to grow an online business has become a quest for many looking for shortcuts to wealth. Being one of the top social networking sites on the internet Twitter does present enormous potential for traffic if harvested correctly. Having a strong twitter following however is a prerequisite to having the ability to attract a significant amount of traffic from this site. One of the quickest ways to grow your following is by getting others to re tweet your comments. The 3 factors discussed here today will play a large role in your ability to get your comments repeated to others on the site. Simply paying attention to these factors and of course having something to say of interest will greatly increase your chances of gaining a re tweet. What you do with your new found twitter following is then up to you.