Michael Martine considered writing a book on how to make the most of Twitter. Fortunately for us all, however, he chose instead to share his insight—gratis—at Remarkablogger in an extended post called "The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Marketing Your Business on Twitter."

The title is ambitious, and Martine delivers with a comprehensive primer that takes readers all the way from a basic explanation of Twitter to legitimate ways you can monetize your microblogging efforts.

Martine includes handy cheat-sheets, including a glossary that defines terms such as these:

• Direct Message/DM: Private messages sent to other Twitter users who are following you, and whom you follow. Mutual following is what makes DMs possible.
• Retweet/RT: Copying another Twitter user's tweet and adding the letters "RT" plus their Twitter username. This allows you to spread great tweets by others and credit them.

And here's a small sampling of Martine's other tips:

• Be yourself—use your real name as a username and upload a nice headshot of your smiling face.
• Provide value to your audience, first and foremost.
• Keep your tweets down to 120 characters or less for better retweetability.
• Make full use of tools like TweetDeck and TweetSuite.

The Po!nt: "Simply put," says Martine, "if you're not using Twitter, you're missing the party. You know, the one where all the deals get made behind the scenes. The one you'll regret not joining."

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