Top 10 Mistakes Made/Lessons Learned on Twitter
I joined Twitter in July of 2007. Learning how to effectively use Twitter to connect with friends and meet new people was certainly a work in progress for me. If only I'd known then just what a powerful networking tool Twitter was! Looking back at my own twitter journey, there are a few things I wish I’d known before I started tweeting. I’m a big fan of lists, so here goes…
Your twitter profile background makes up a significant part of your first impression. If you’re skilled at Photoshop, you may choose to carefully design your own, otherwise, it may be best to go with a twitter background site design such as http://www.twitterbackgrounds.org or http://www.twitter-backgrounds.net). Remember, nothing too cutesy or outrageous. Professional is best.
3. You know what they say about a picture…( it’s worth a thousand words)
The same holds true for your profile picture on Twitter. My advice would be to choose a professional-looking photo that isn’t too uptight. Some people incorporate a company logo into their profile photo if there is room. If you’re tweeting for your company, the company logo may serve as the best profile “photo”.
4. Who Are You, Anyway?
In your twitter bio, you are tasked with describing (in 160 words or less) who you are, what you do, and why you came to the party. Be strategic, but not braggy! Avoid terms like “expert”, “ninja”, “master”, etc. Have a little fun. Show you’re well-rounded and looking to connect with other like-minded professionals.
5. Checkin’ You Out…
You have the opportunity to share a link to your website. You only have one link, so you’ll need to make it count. Since you’re limited in your profile description, your website link is the next-best place people will go to learn more about you. Whether you link to your homepage, a blog, or your facebook page is up to you, but think about the pros and cons to each before you proceed.
6. Tweet FIRST, Friend Later: This one goes along the same lines as the first tip. If first impressions are first, then think about this with me for just a moment…You’ve dressed up your twitter page with a professional background, you’ve artfully written your “bio” and carefully selected just the right photo for your profile. Now, you think it’s time to “connect” or “friend” as many people as possible, starting that second! Word to the wise…hold your horses! The first thing most people do when they are making the decision about whether to “follow” you back is pull up your twitter page. Essentially, they are checking you out to see if you are legit. When they see you’ve made only one “hello, world!” tweet, you’ve discredited yourself. The chances of them following you back, unless they are personal friend, are slim to none. As much “give” as you’ll find in twitter, there is equal “take”. What I mean by that is quite simply, people don’t want to waste their time “following” your tweets if they don’t think you have anything to contribute. My advice (from personal experience) would be to spend several days or even weeks tweeting before you attempt to build your connections. Make sure your tweets are well-rounded and a good representation of who you said you were in your bio.
7. Make Your Connections Count
The temptation initially is to make as many connections as humanly possible on twitter. Try your best to resist this urge! You’re new to Twitter, and making hundreds of connections right away may result in you being overwhelmed with your tweet stream. Furthermore, it may also send a red-flag to Twitter that you are abusing the system, putting your Twitter account in jeopardy. Start small, making legitimate connections. Then actually attempt to engage in meaningful tweets. For example, if you have an interest in art, connect with local artists on Twitter. Tweet about their work and what you find most interesting about it. You’ll find they will typically respond back with a tweet and mention, thanking you and engaging back.
8. It’s what you DO with your account that matters
You can have thousands of followers, but if you haven’t made legitimate connections with any of them, you may find yourself lost in the crowd. Be consistent in your tweeting. Initially I set a goal to tweet something at least once a day. My goal was even more specific than that, since I actually had a goal to not only tweet once a day, but to use that tweet about something related to marketing. Whether it was a link to an interesting marketing article, or to retweet something another marketer had posted, the goal was one tweet a day.
9. Re-tweet (RT) with care
My tendency initially was to re-tweet instead of coming up with my own tweets. Re-tweeting is actually a great thing, but you want to be careful not to become known as a constant re-tweeter who never has anything original to say. Try to create a balance between re-tweets, original tweets, and conversational tweets.
10. Give Back!
Once you’ve formed a circle of tweeps, BE THERE when they need help. It only takes a few minutes to help point someone in the right direction when they’ve asked for assistance. Helping others is a great way to show your tweeps that you’ve connected with them because you DO care. The other day someone I follow on twitter said she needed help finding a good online RSVP company. I had experience with e-vite, but took a few minutes to search the web for other RSVP companies. I scanned a few articles quickly and did a variety of searches. Less than 5 minutes later, I had 4 companies that I could recommend she check out. I was sure to mention I only had experience with e-vite, but that the others may be worth a look. A few minutes later, I had a thank you tweet from her. We’d officially “connected” in a real way. You’ll find the more you give, the more you get. I’ve been blessed with generous help and tips more times than I can count through the power of twitter. After all, isn’t connecting with and helping others what we are here to do anyway?
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