Twitter for Beginners: Some Do’s and Don’ts
Twitter is now one of the hottest social networking sites on the Internet. Members from all ethnic, age, religion, and lifestyle groups come together, which is what makes this such a great site. People connect with loved ones, build new friendships, conduct research, or market products. Social networking media is a powerful tool for people in leadership roles that want to get information out about the organization. However, knowing some of the Twitter dos and don’ts will help your experience be a successful one. It’s not just about telling people what you are eating for dinner!
Some of the dos include:
• Add a picture to your account profile. People want to see who they are communicating with
• Add a bio to your profile. Take a few minutes and tell us what you love, what you do for a living and what you are passionate about. You bio is a way to validate your tweets (what you write is called a “tweet”). You don’t have to get too personal.
• Accomplishments – People love hearing about accomplishments in that it motivates and encourages
• Feelings – Even business owners and leaders can post about feelings, which might be comments showing passion for the organization, product, or service offered to the public
• Distinct Information – Another great do for people on Twitter is to share a special skill or unique insight since Twitter is designed so people have two opportunities – to communicate and to learn.
• Ideas – Most people love learning about new software, cool gadgets, sound technology, and other ideas so sharing something new, exciting, or innovative is always a great option
• Blogs – Among the Twitter dos and don’ts, one of the big dos is to advertise and market business through writing blogs or Tweets. Business owners will see a significant increase in readers and ultimately, customers.
• Choose Wisely – People will be more successful on Twitter by following people they trust, those that have something important to offer and are interesting
• Honest Aspirations – It is important to be upfront about aspirations, making it clear the person, product, or service being represented, which will boost the number of people interested in learning about the business.
Now, as far as the don’ts, some of these include:
• Too Personal – One of the things that many people are uncertain about when joining a social media such as Twitter is just how personal information should be. One of the don’ts among the Twitter dos and don’ts is to be careful in how much and to what degree personal information is shared. There is nothing wrong with discussing personal experiences but especially for people using Twitter for marketing, personal information should be limited to owner and leader bios specific to the company. Distracting – Information provided on Twitter should be brief and concise, not fluffy and cluttered, which becomes extremely distracting
• Too many Tweets – For people that want to maximize the value of the Twitter experience, they need to be careful not to flood their homepage with Tweets that don’t add value to their followers.
Here are some fun people to follow:
@baysidechurch
@drjohnjackson
@guykawasaki
@successfool
@kemmeyer
@timastevens
@cjalvarado (had to throw it in there)
