Many of you already know that I reside here in Grand Junction, Colorado, which is halfway between Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. Grand Junction has less than 100,000 people in the county, and can be classified by most as being a small town.

I’m a big fan of our small town, with all its beauty, and I support Grand Junction in any way I can.

As with many small towns, Grand Junction is a little bit behind the technology curve (though not as much as some), and needs a little boost at times to get things kick started. Because I’ve noticed a bump in Twitter traffic from our community, I decided to put together a blog post that can be used as a booster pack to get more Grand Junction residents and businesses started with Twitter.

If you just want the list of Grand Junction Twitter users, scroll down to the bottom and start following

I want to explain a little bit about Twitter, what it is, and how it can benefit your business.

For starters though, you need to have a Twitter account. Go here to sign up with Twitter to get your own account. Every business should have one (well, just about every business).

Twitter is what is referred to as a ‘micro-blogging’ social networking service… it’s micro in the sense that you are limited to 140 characters that you can write at a time… and it’s still available to anyone that wants to follow your messages, so it’s not private like an email is.

Twitter is a free service, so there isn’t any extra cost that your business has to contend with (unless you count the time it takes to participate, which is valid). You just have to sign-in and start “tweeting” (that’s jargon for sending messages through Twitter).

But if you have no one following you, then no one is going to hear your message, so it’s important to say things that are interesting enough that they will follow you…

Followers are the key to getting people to listen to your message. The more followers you have, the more people that can hear what you have to say. Just make sure you’re giving them something worthy to hear, otherwise you risk losing your followers.

I have over 10,000 followers… that’s 10,000 people that feel that what I have to say is important enough that they elect to listen to my tweets. I can send them any message I want, including both personal and business, but the real goal is to build a relationship with them all, and build their trust over time so that they will buy from me in the future.

Let me stress that last point – social networks like twitter are relation building tools. Don’t use it as a hard sell tool. Just be everyone’s friend, and occasionally mention that you’re having a super special weekend sale, or simply mention facts about your industry. But hard-selling is the fastest way I know of to lose your followers on Twitter.

My wife Jennifer runs Moxie Mafia, a social media blog that focuses on the ins and outs of using social networks most effectively. She also has a book on social media, so she really does know her stuff. Go check out her blog for detailed tips on how to use Twitter (and other social networks) effectively for business.

But I still haven’t addressed one critical question – Why should Grand Junction Twitterers band together?

Think of it this way…. When you have a community (in the physical sense), you attend gatherings together to share ideas and promote each other’s products. The local Farmers Market is a prime example. Look around. Do you see all those people? They are followers (in Twitter parlance), and are the ones that would be listening to your messages, or seeing what you have to promote or service to provide.

A lot of side chatter also happens at the Farmers Market, just like it will on Twitter that will provide for other opportunities… like more events (think Palisade Peach Festival).

I think you get the idea here – that Twitter is an online community, very similar to a physical community… but the online communities are becoming just as important as the physical ones, partly because of the tremendous growth, and the shift in users habits of where they visit.

Below is a list of Grand Junction Twitters that I know about, and gives all Grand Junction businesses a place to start gathering up online connections.

Think of this as your “Twitter Starter Pack” to get you a list of credible Twitterers here in the Grand Valley.

And without further ado…. Here’s the list.

Please leave your twitter address in the comments below for other Grand Junction residents to follow as well…

This only works as a two-way street!

• Matt Kettlewell (Me)
• Jennifer Kettlewell (Moxie Maven)
• Grand Junction Weather
• Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce
• Mike the Headless Chicken
• Bananas Fun Park
• Grand Junction Symphony
• Down Town Grand Junction
• Down Town Colorado
• Enstroms Toffee
• Grand Junction Colorado
• Western Slope Tickets
• Andrea Haitz
• KJCTNews8
• Kyle (Virtual Assistant)
• Heather Turnbow
• KAFM Radio
• Talking Digital
• Mike Daniels (Reporter)
• KKCO Channel 11 News
• Western Slope News
• 93.1 Magic FM Radio
• CanyonRat
• GhostOfKeywork
• NightShiftNurse
• Visionary
• FuzionMuse
• JaybirdDesigns
• HelpMeRick
• KylesSC

That’s a good list to get you started… I’ll add more as I find them, and you do your part and add your twitter name in the comments below… see you around

More GJ Twitter Updates :

• Colorado Wine Country Inn
• DesertShaman
• TalkingDigital
• SavorEachGlass
• LibraryBecky
• BimboBaggins
• Visionairey
• GJFreePress
• KBM407
• DreamTimePress
• JuliaWiddop
• WestWriters
• LisaLingo
• Cllecr
• AnniePayne
• 2MorrowsMusic
• LarchWoodInns
• MesaPartners
• CravenLovelace
• RandyFay
• SirkiTree
• WndTxn
• mesacountynews
• Karen Loughman
• Patty Bray
• LokiSeth
• mesacountywfc
• TheGrandValley
• GJEconDev
• creddin
• catherinemayer
• Renee Gibson
• Cristine Strickland
• raealea
• DoctorMerkel
• Socialbflyco
• KEKBCountry

Comment below to let me know if I left your name off the list, or to tell me of a Grand Junction Twitter user whose name should be on this list.  Some even got clever and Tweeted me that their name was left off – I encourage that too!

As long as they are semi-local – Mesa County, Western Slope, Fruita, Delta, Palisade, etc – I’m happy to add them to the list!  Be sure to check out the comments for any names that I missed.