How to Get Started With Twitter

Twitter is another social networking site where you create relationships 140 characters at a time. A good rule of thumb is to treat this like you would a regular networking meeting. Meaning, don’t go with the intention of selling yourself, go with the intention of connecting with others and adding value to their life.

If you “tweet” (make a post AKA say something to the community) in a unselfish way, you can grow your business, connect with top experts instantly, find new business opportunities, learn about anything you want to and build an amazing network of fans.

If you are just starting here are the basics of Twitter….

1. Go to www.Twitter.com and signup. Choose your Username wisely. I suggest you choose your name (no spaces) or your company/organization name. It is perfectly acceptable to have more than one Twitter account. You would want to do this to secure your branded name(s). (e.g. sabrinagibson and smartandsticky) You can make one post that simply says “You can follow me @yourusername (you would fill this in with your information) so that you can have one twitter account to manage.
2. Setup your profile. Create a great bio. Don’t know what to put in your BIO?
   1. Go to twitter and at the bottom, click on Search. Type in keywords that would identify your possible target market, people you may want to follow, etc. Check out their bios.
   2. Here is the list of the top 50 people to follow (unofficial list but really good) from @prsarahevans
   3. A few of my favorites are @grader, @problogger, @mrtweet, @cnn, @twinfluence along with the rest also mentioned in this post – there are so many to list. To be continued…
   4. Read some of the bios of these people to create your own interesting bio. Notice I did not say BORING Bio. Your bio is how people will choose if they want to follow you or not.
3. Choose a great website link for your profile. You may want to consider sending people directly to a landing page on your best stuff, send them to your favorite article on your blog or a page on your website about you. For me I want to be a resource for people who follow me so I use my blog.
4. Upload a picture of you. Remember Twitter is about creating relationships and it is easier to connect with someone you can see.
5. Other things to know:
   1. DM = Direct Message – you will see this as a tab in your twitter home page. Be sure to keep up with these messages as this is how you can build relationships.
   2. RT = Retweet – if you like something someone says then copy and put RT in front of it.  Then you send it to your followers.
   3. @ in front of a person’s username will send a message directly to them and let the entire world see it. This is a great way to give praise to others.
   4. Make a point to tweet a couple of times a day. Need some things to tweet about? Please don’t share what you are doing unless you think someone might find it valuable.
6. Some basic ideas on what you can tweet about…
   1. Read the bios of the people you are following – do they have something interesting you like. Share their username and the link of what you like wit the community.
   2. Do you have interesting tools, freebies, tips, etc that can make someone’s life easier. Share it.
   3. Read what your community is saying and reply to them.
   4. I love what @DaveTaylor tweets “My challenge to you, pick a day and only send out positive, affirming tweets and links. Can ya do it?”
   5. @JoshHinds tweets “Be interested in others and connect people”
7. A couple of helpful tools (and there are a ton of them)
   1. SocialToo.com – in addition to being able to do surveys – you can setup rules to automatically follow and unfollow people. You can setup an automatic message to go to anyone who follows you. TIP: You may want to send a great freebie, tool or resource you can share to add value to others.
   2. TweetDeck.com – a great tool to help you follow keywords, conversations and find what the top “tweets” are for the day.
   3. TinyUrl.com – take a really long website address and make it tiny
8. Click on Find People to connect with others in your networks. You can also enter emails to people you want to connect with on Twitter. Good rule of thumb: Find 50-100 people to follow.
9. More great blog posts on how to use Twitter
   1. @CreativeWisdom has a great newbies guide for Twitter with images. Check out her tip on # signs and Friday follows. http://www.1creativewisdom.com/2009/01/twitter-101/
   2. @ramskill Using Twitter the Smart Way http://tinyurl.com/5tcfus
   3. @DaivRawks Hilarious Video about Twitter http://is.gd/f2R4
   4. @ChrisBrogan Learn how to “build your community” http://tinyurl.com/3sv2ne
   5. @JennyCromie 8 Ways Twitter Can Grow Your Freelance Business http://tinyurl.com/4b2nrs

   Do you have a great tip you want to share? Do you have a blog post that helps explain Twitter? Please share. You can follow me @SabrinaGibson