Six Tips for Getting Started on Twitter
I just posted about the five reasons I use Twitter. In hopes that I may have persuaded a few people to give Twitter a shot for themselves, here are a few tips for getting started.
1. First of all, even if you’re still not sold, you should still protect your brand by securing your name, and your company name on Twitter, before someone decides to get on there as you. For example, Paul doesn't actively use Twitter (yet), but he has set up two profiles — one for himself and one for PR 20/20. (Another brand management tip — go to Twitter search, pick a keyword, like maybe your company or brand name, and see what people are already saying about you.)
2. It’s generally not a great idea to tweet as “YourCompanyName” unless you are only posting about company info. But unless your company does really cool stuff, that would probably be boring and nobody will want to follow you. (For an example of a Twitter brand that works, check out @BaconSalt.)
3. When you set up a profile, include as much information as you can. Don’t leave stuff blank, upload a photo of yourself and link to your Website. People are more likely to follow you if they know you’re a real person, especially one who seems interesting.
4. Arguably, in any area of social media there becomes a gray area where your private and public self start to merge. I think this is especially true with Twitter, particularly if you are using it to network for business, because you don’t’ want to lose your voice or personality. This might sound scary, but really, it’s pretty cool to actually get to know people.
5. Whether you think it or not, people rarely post stuff like “I’m eating breakfast,” “I’m bored,” and “watching TV. I love LOST.” Its actually more like “reading an interesting article about the bailout at URL,” or “if you’re in the Cleveland area tonight, check out this concert,” or “I’m traveling to Boston next week, anyone want to meet up?” This is useful stuff, for information and for networking.
6. If you give Twitter a try, give it time. Twitter is difficult at first. Start by following anyone you know (or even vaguely know). Then look for people you admire in your industry — most major bloggers, for example, are probably on Twitter. Follow people and see the kind of things they tweet about. Then, post your own updates that are useful to others (but don’t constantly only promote your own content).
When you feel comfortable, send someone an @ reply like “hey I liked your blog post about XXX” or “thought you might be interested in this article.” Relationships will build organically, and the whole thing becomes really, really cool. (And very valuable, in my opinion, both personally and professionally.)
Want more information on using Twitter for your business? Check out the free Webinar, How to Use Twitter for Marketing & PR, TODAY (Friday, Oct. 10) at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
(And if you’re on Twitter, or want to be, follow me @LaurelMackenzie.)
3. When you set up a profile, include as much information as you can. Don’t leave stuff blank, upload a photo of yourself and link to your Website. People are more likely to follow you if they know you’re a real person, especially one who seems interesting.
4. Arguably, in any area of social media there becomes a gray area where your private and public self start to merge. I think this is especially true with Twitter, particularly if you are using it to network for business, because you don’t’ want to lose your voice or personality. This might sound scary, but really, it’s pretty cool to actually get to know people.
5. Whether you think it or not, people rarely post stuff like “I’m eating breakfast,” “I’m bored,” and “watching TV. I love LOST.” Its actually more like “reading an interesting article about the bailout at URL,” or “if you’re in the Cleveland area tonight, check out this concert,” or “I’m traveling to Boston next week, anyone want to meet up?” This is useful stuff, for information and for networking.
6. If you give Twitter a try, give it time. Twitter is difficult at first. Start by following anyone you know (or even vaguely know). Then look for people you admire in your industry — most major bloggers, for example, are probably on Twitter. Follow people and see the kind of things they tweet about. Then, post your own updates that are useful to others (but don’t constantly only promote your own content).
When you feel comfortable, send someone an @ reply like “hey I liked your blog post about XXX” or “thought you might be interested in this article.” Relationships will build organically, and the whole thing becomes really, really cool. (And very valuable, in my opinion, both personally and professionally.)
Want more information on using Twitter for your business? Check out the free Webinar, How to Use Twitter for Marketing & PR, TODAY (Friday, Oct. 10) at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
(And if you’re on Twitter, or want to be, follow me @LaurelMackenzie.)
Reader Comments
Peter
October 10, 2008 9:54 AM | Permalink
Damnit, I hate that you're kinda right. I just found out the founder of internratings.com was talking about our company's internship program by doing the search you suggested. Looking forward to being proved wrong again at the Webinar today.Comments are disabled for this post.