It’s official. Twitter is not a passing fad. Eight out of 10 people know about it, and in five years, Twitter has amassed more than 100 million users.

Most Twitter users are college educated, 26 to 44 years old, with incomes of $26K to $75K, according to Digital Surgeons. A whopping 67 percent of users follow a brand from which they intend to purchase.

If you’re new to Twitter, it’s essentially a micro-blog – a social media tool for posting 140-character updates about your life, your work or what you’re experiencing in any given day. It’s a way to keep people informed without having to craft a long blog post.

With the way many access Twitter via cell phone, it also has an instant message quality – the ability to get a message to hundreds or thousands in mere seconds.

In this first in a two-part series, we’ll explore Twitter fundamentals.

For starters, you must speak the language of Twitter. An update is called a “tweet.” You are “tweeting” a message and not “twittering.” Use the latter, and you’ll be detected as a newbie and publicly mocked.

Those who want to read your updates are your “followers.” The typical user has 100-plus followers.

Creating your profile takes about five minutes. Set up an individual or company profile or both. Make your “handle” (such as @LoriTurner) short, easy to spell, and memorable. For individual profiles, use your name if it’s available. Add your photo if you want to be taken seriously.

Give thought to your Twitter strategy. Who is your target audience (e.g., business owners in Memphis)? What kind of brand perception do you want to establish in the marketplace? Make sure your messaging and targeted followers align with this strategy.

Begin by following other high-quality, influential people. Click “Who to Follow” to see suggestions or to search based on your interests. You can also find people you know by searching services you use, like Gmail or LinkedIn, to see which of your friends are on Twitter.

When posting an update, use a mix of professional and personal content. Avoid advertising your services too often or risk alienating followers. Instead, post an update about an interesting project you’re working on, as a way of communicating what you do, versus posting an outright ad.

The secret to Twitter is about creating value for your followers, and a great way to do so is by offering best practices, lessons learned and educational content.

Interact with those you follow and those who follow you. Twitter is about two-way communication and listening to your followers. Reply to their posts and redistribute their content, called “retweeting.” You’ll create a more engaged follower base if you do – those willing to create buzz about you and your company in time.

If you’re already using Twitter’s basic features but want to get more out of your time investment, check back next week for more advanced tricks of the trade.

Lori Turner-Wilson an award-winning columnist and managing partner of RedRover Sales & Marketing, www.redrovercompany.com. You can follow RedRover on Twitter (@redrovercompany and @loriturner) and Facebook (facebook.com/redrovercompany).