*Update Note 2012 – I use to be called Kung fu digital online before launching Smartdog digital, that was my old blog name.
AND YES! This was the first blog post I ever wrote. It’s not great I know!
It’s not really about what you say, but how you interact with fellow people, what you bring to an audience and how you support your followers and discover new ones.
If your new to Twitter – Twitter is a social micro blogging service which allows you to post a TWEET which is a text message of 140 characters max. You can also post a link to your pictures or websites you find interesting.
So you’ve joined Twitter so what’s next…
- Pick a topic your passionate about – this can be something you like talking about or it can be an expertise – My expertise is Digital Marketing and I’m also passionate about it so I really enjoy talking about, and so will your followers.
- Don’t post pointless messages – such as”I’ve just woken up today!” nobody really wants to know these trivial daily goings on, only celebrities can be afforded such luxuries to post like that! And even then most of the twitter social media elite won’t follow celebrities who post boring pointless messages.
- Pick more than one subject but stick to them – if your profile says your going to talk about fishing and garden, then talk about it don’t talk about other subjects that aren’t in your profile you’ll only confuse your followers.
- Interact with people – use @replies remember make sure you get involved in the conversion, not everyone will reply to you, but most twitter users will if you’ve got something interesting to add.
- Don’t follow everyone – follow users who talk about similar subjects to you, that way you’ll have a place to start if you want to interact with people. You will also find your network of people you are following provide useful and informative information. I use mine to keep on top of the latest developments in my industry.
- Don’t follow everyone back – I generally follow people who follow me, unless their profiles do not match my subjects or what I’m about, if you don’t think their posts are interesting don’t follow them.
- Post regularly – I’m a self confessed social media addict, but don’t post once a month you’ll never get anywhere on Twitter. Make sure you post at least once a day, that way you keep your followers noticing you and keep your network up-to-date with what your talking about.
- Post links – Everyone likes a good link! If you’ve just found the best fashion shop online – tell someone about it, they’ll thank you for it. You never know you might even get your tweet re-posted which is called a re-tweet.
- Re-tweet peoples posts – If you’ve seen another persons tweet or link and you think it’s fantastic! Then Re-tweet it and share it with others. Some of the best Twitter users are masters in the art of the re-tweet. RT @kungfudigital if you enjoyed this post!
- Be true to yourself – Finally be true to yourself, don’t try and pretend to be something your not, speak from the heart and be honest. People will appreciate you for it, no one likes a liar.
Finally set a goal of what you want to achieve with Twitter, why are you on Twitter!
Are you on twitter to sell products, promote your blog, network work with like minded inviduals, promote your website, gain contacts and new business. If you set yourself a goal, stick to it! That way you’ll get the most out of Twitter.
Tools of the trade –
So this is what really seperates the average users from the Twitter elite.
Knowledge is power – but I like to share my knowledge, because someone once shared that with me.
1. Download tweetdeck – http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/ Tweet deck allows you to manage all your Twitter followers and tweets in one easy application. Also you can follow what are the hot topics people are speaking about today and shorten urls to take up less characters for your post, just to name a few.
2. Download Twitter local – http://www.twitterlocal.net/ – Twitter local is another application that allows you to see other Twitter users in your local area and what they are talking about. A great way to find local people to follow and interact with.
3. Register yourself at http://www.wefollow.com/ – we follow is the Twitter directory of users. You can register yourself under the subjects your talking about, but you can only pick three!
Twittertiquette –
I’ve already talked about how to use twitter properly but rather than me bore you I’ll let you read @cmiddlebrook aka Caroline Middlebrook’s amazing post on how to use twitter properly – Read it here!
My link gift to you –
Thanks to @airabongco here is a fantastic link for you which has a list of every application you could possibly need for Twitter. Click here.
I hope you enjoy Twitter as much as I do, and keep in mind not everyone will find you. You have go find followers yourself from time to time!
Illiya aka Kung Fu Digital
If you enjoyed my post you can follow me @kungfudigital.
