I have organized and attended so many Twitter Parties that I feel the need to share some tips with today’s party goers in order to help you make the best out of your experience. 

Don’t be surprised if I tell you that online networking is very similar to offline networking.  You need to follow the same etiquette and codes of behavior if you are expecting the same end results: a fruitful relationship, a potential client, a valuable connection.  This certainly translates into more traffic to your links, more sales and a larger influence.

I would like to suggest you read Chris Brogan’s post about Pirate Moves where he describes online networking in a similar way as going to a picnic.  On this post, I would like to show you how Twitter Parties can be a great vehicle for online networking.  Regardless of the type of party, here are my two cents:

1) Common Interest: You have finally been invited to a party in Twitter where people have something in common.  The “Hashtag” is a magic word that tides everyone together for the same cause, same joy, same clan.  This is a unique opportunity to bond with others and feel that sense of belonging.  Take full advantage of this.

2) Offer Assistance: In order to make the best out of an event, offer some help.  That will help you (and your business) stand out.  Things as simple as a Re-Tweet, a head count, a post party transcript, a summary and so forth. 

3) Be Generous: I promise, I swear, I guarantee that if you promote other people’s links, tweets and interest, some will return the favor.  However, this is only the case if you do it without expecting anything in return.  You need to find the intrinsic joy of helping others grow.  The more you do it, the better you will get at it and the more results you will eventually see.

4)   Meet the party leaders:  Take the time to establish a dialogue with the leaders.  Don’t be shy at all.  Leaders love to answer questions, to make everyone feel welcome.  Find interesting ways of engaging the leaders tell you about the history of the group.  You can also do some homework and find out who they are before the party takes place.  

5) Meet the shy newcomer: No matter how important it is to meet the party leaders, it is 100 times more important to greet the newcomer.  Observe in tonight’s party how some people will join and send a tweet like “Hi, this is my first time here. What do I have to do?” I’ve seen so often that kind of tweet be the first and the last, simply because nobody took the time to answer.  If you are the lucky one, you found a friend forever.

6) Bring some goodies: The same way your mom taught you to never go to a dinner/party empty handed, the same concept applies to a Twitter Party.  Don’t just joke around (yes, that’s really important too) but also play the game with your good cards.  Bring your links, they are equivalent to your business cards.  When someone asks a question, feel free to direct them to your website or even that of friend’s if it’s relevant.  

7) Do not spam: Have you ever been in a party where someone just talks and talks about himself/herself? How annoying can that be? Again, same thing here.  If all your tweets are about your wonderful, creative, unique website and business opportunity, you will look just like that guy/girl and people will ignore you.

Keep the harmony: Remember that it’s a party and not a political campaign or a demonstration against your cause.  So try to keep the spirit of the party, remain relatively on the topic, keep the conversation reciprocal, be humble and follow back.  Most importantly, reply back if someone outreaches to you.  Some people can take indifference very personal.

9) Get all dressed up: If you follow the above steps, you will certainly get some visitors to your link(s).  Please make sure that the content is relevant, updated and looking great.  You don’t want to send someone to a blog where the last time you wrote a post was a month ago. Nor you want to send them to a website that still has Latin words all over.  If that is your case, be patient, use the networking opportunity to make initial connections and build relationships.  Once your site is ready, leverage those connections when you launch.

10) Follow-up: This is the last and most important rule.  If you say “I’ll send you this or that” you better do it even if you must jump mountains.  But also a quick tweet or even a FollowFriday – VivaViernes to your new friends will work just fine. 

Twitter Parties can be crazy, full of noise and distractions.  When used well, they can become be your chance to meet that person, find that opportunity, open that door.  

Now, did I forget something? Can you share your experience with Twitter parties?