A few months ago, I was asked by my friend Michael Holmes to write my top 10 twitter tips down and send them to him for an EBook he was putting together. That EBook was posted here a couple of weeks ago, but I thought I’d post what I contributed to the project.
So, here are my top 10 twitter tips…
1. Tweet regularly – This should kinda go without saying, but you have to tweet regularly. If you expect to get to know people and make real connections, you have to be consistent with it. Just like the folks at the local barber shop, you have to frequent twitter to get to know people. They have no reason to pay attention to you otherwise.
2. Maintain a consistent voice – Tweet consistently, consistently. You don’t have multiple personalities in real life (most of you), so don’t have it on twitter. Be yourself. Just like in real life, people want to sense that you’re genuine.
3. RT freely (using ‘RT @…’) – Share and share alike. A retweet means you quote a tweet and put ‘RT @___’ at the beginning of it. This shows the people you’re retweeting and the other people that follow you that you’re not afraid to share. You’re much more likely to get retweeted yourself if you do it for someone else.
4. Be social – talk with people, don’t just yell at them. Relationship requires conversation. Networking requires you being social with people, not just tweeting out your web-site link. That’s not the point of twitter. Don’t be afraid to get in there and respond freely… especially if someone responds to you first.
5. Build a relationship before asking for favors – I don’t mind people asking me to retweet their link or their tweet if I have a relationship with them on twitter already. It’s like your neighbor asks you to come over and help them build a bookshelf… if you’ve only spoken to them one time when they moved in, you probably are gonna find an excuse not to. It’s the same way with twitter. Build relationships first – ask for favors later.
6. Be clear – Much of our normal conversation relies on facial expressions, hand gestures, etc. Twitter doesn’t afford us the opportunity to utilize and see those things. That’s why we have to be crystal clear when we tweet. The last thing we want to do is offend someone when we were trying to joke with them.
7. Use a personal picture for your profile – Twitter gives you an egg as your profile photo when you first log on… don’t leave it. We need to see you. We want to see your face. We don’t want to see a stock photo, an egg, or even a logo so much, we want to see your face. It’s about relationships… human ones.
8. If you want to be retweeted, leave at least a 20 character space – One of the things we love about twitter is the short updates. That’s also something that can hurt you if you want to be retweeted (with the quote tweet) no twitter. Be sure to leave room for the next person to come along and add ‘RT @ your name’ and still be able to fit it within the character limit. Most people aren’t going to edit a tweet so they can retweet it. If it doesn’t fit in the character limit, they’re just gonna continue down their twitter stream.
9. Make the first move – don’t be afraid to follow people first. That’s how you gain followers on twitter. You have to be willing to follow them first and allow them to follow you back. Don’t be afraid to make the first move. It can be tough, kinda like asking the good looking guy/girl out in the 8th grade, but go for it.
10. Think before you tweet -don’t regret it later. Don’t’ tweet mad, angry, drunk, whatever. Be genuine if you’ve had a tough day, let people know if you’re upset, but be careful that you don’t say something you’ll later regret. Be genuine, but not inconsiderate and stupid.
OK, Add to the list. What’s your top twitter tip?
[Does your twitter stream seem dead? Here are 4 ways to revive it.]
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