Twitter is singlehandedly one of the most popular microblogging platforms on the Internet and has grown into the largest social networking site as well. While staying within 140 characters, you can send quick and easily consumable messages to followers - individuals who are listening to what you have to say.

The best way to build a following on Twitter is to first look for your colleagues. To do this, simply go to Twitter and use the find friends feature to search for people you may already know. Once you find them, begin engaging with them and start having meaningful conversations.

The next thing you want to do is produce valuable content on a consistent basis. People don't want to follow you just to hear about your next product or marketing pitch. People want to have conversations and be able to create and develop relationships with the people they are meeting online.

To produce content to go out in between your one-on-one, personal engagement, consider using material you already have written. This can come from blog posts, e-books and other sources. Create 140 snippets of content and, where applicable, link to the resource mentioned or the blog post you are quoting from. This will allow you to recycle content instead of having to create brand new updates.

Once you are producing content on a regular basis and you've connected with the people you know and have started having meaningful conversations on Twitter, start branching out. Using the advanced search function, look for people talking about your industry or your niche. Follow people who have similar interests. Following people puts you into their sociosphere which may result in more conversations with the people you need to be having conversations with.