As I meet more and more people who want to get into this twitter world
they often ask me the same question. Where do I
begin? So for all of you who want to be involved but have not idea where to
start, this is for you. For all of you who don’t know what twitter is
then this is a good place to start.
As Wikepedia defines it “Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (known as tweets),
which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.”
Basically, you have 140 characters to send updates to your followers.
It answers the question “what are you doing?” but you can use it to
share interesting articles, funny videos you stumble
upon, share your hobbies and connect with other people with similar
interests. A lot of people use twitter for business, to promote their
blogs, to connect with friends. What do you want to use twitter for?
#1 Define your goal
Before
starting the whole twitter experience you must find out what your goal
is. Why do you want to use twitter for? is it for business? personal?
both? there is really not right or wrong on how you want to use twitter
for, but it would really help you focus if you have a goal in mind.
#2 Sign up
go
to www.twitter.com and click on register, select your username and
password. then, under the settings tab, start creating your profile.
1.
Add a picture
A close up head shot works best rather than cartoons,
graphics or far away pictures. If you are following someone, wouldn’t
you like to match a face with the tweets? well most of us do.
2.
Complete
your Bio.
People want to know what you are all about. This Bio
description is what appears underneath your photo. Its a small space so
think how you can describe yourself in few words. What’s your passion?
if you could describe yourself in 2 sentences what would you say about
yourself? If you are having trouble coming up with this, you can
always ask someone that knows you to help describe yourself. Sometimes
is hard to see what we are but other really know what our talents are
and what we can offer the world, sometimes you already know what you
have to offer, or others will simply find it as they get more and more
involved with twitter.
3. Start talking
Start
sharing your links, your thoughts, your pictures. Before you start
building up your follower’s list you have to give them a reason to
follow you. When people click on your profile, they will read your
latest tweets, if its something that they are also interest in, that
gives value to them, then they will follow you back. so before hunting
for followers, make sure you add to the conversation first; and by
this, I don’t mean, one or two tweets… don’t be afraid.. tweet tweet
tweet away!
4. Find followers
There are many ways to find
people to follow but the best advice someone has given me is “if you
want to have followers start by following people, the more you follow
the more followers you’ll get” and when I applied it, it really worked.
I use a services called Mrtweet.com its a little owl that finds people
with your similar interests and recommends you to follow them. you
should check it out.
Its suggested but not mandatory that you send your followers a message when they start following you. You can set this automatic but I’ve hear some people don’t like it. For this, I can recommend you two services that I use. www.tweetlater.com on this page you can set up your twitter account and you can set up an automatic reply when yo follow people, it has a few more options so you should definitely check it out. the other tool that I use is bubbletweet, this is a 30 second video bubble that you can record with your webcam or you can import your own video. You can tell your followers what you are all about. I currently have this set up as my welcome message instead of an automatic message, just be creative in he way you send them that “thank yo for following me” message.
5. Add to the conversation
So
now that you know how to sign up with twitter, add tweets and find
people with similar interested you must interact with other people. The
whole point is to meet and interact with others. A lot of people ask
questions, so make sure you use the “reply” feature and post your
thoughts. Ask questions as well, and create a conversation with others.
People will start recommending other people and that’s how your network
will keep growing and growing.
6. Twitter is not for spammers
Don’t get tangled with the idea that twitter is only to promote your
products. If all you talk about is your products then you will look like a spammer and people will start un-following
you. Twitter is not a free advertising posting service, is a way to
network with people, have conversations and share links. Also, do not
add more than 100 to 150 people a day. If you do this, you risk looking
like spammer and your account might be temporarily suspended.
Add people slowly, get to know your followers and who you are
following. Take time to visit their links and comment about them, give
them feedback or encourage them to keep it up. Remember, twitter is to
build a network in 140 characters. Have fun with twitter and don’t
forget to follow me at www.twitter.com/amecoli.
