How To Use Twitter

I almost forgot my How To post for today!  I know I’ve posted about Twitter before, but it’s been a while and there are new users cropping up every day.  I thought it would be beneficial to explain yet again why I love Twitter so much and how you can use it to gain readers, promote your blog, and build a community of friends in the process!  For ease of reading, I will break it down into 5 Steps or Tips For Using Twitter.

1) Be an active and constructive part of the community.

This is key.  No matter if you’re on Twitter to build a business concept, to promote your blog, or to create a fun diversion for yourself throughout the day, the best way to start is to jump into the conversation.  Reply to people.  Ask questions.  Post helpful links (to blogs or articles other than your own.)  HAVE FUN!

It can be a bit daunting at first, but you can’t learn to swim without getting your feet wet so jump in somewhere and see how it goes.  Don’t be offended or hurt if no one responds at first; give it some time.  And just remember, if all you do is talk about yourself and what you had for lunch, people may tire of you.  So basically, like every other aspect of life, balance is key.  Be sure to converse, interact, and offer something valuable to the discussion.

2) Develop a following policy.

I’m not talking about a formal one, although some people actually HAVE a “Twitter Following Policy” posted publicly, and that’s fine I suppose, but I don’t feel it’s necessary to go that far.  But you WILL have to decide if you are going to follow back everyone who follows you, or if you’re going to be more selective based on your own criteria and the goals you are trying to achieve.

Everybody has a different philosophy on this, but I decided early on that I was only going to follow people that I really wanted to follow.  My goal for using Twitter is not to gain an impressive follower count; my goal is to socialize and find interesting people to talk to.  Therefore I don’t feel the need to follow back everyone who follows me.

If your goal is to increase your followers quickly, you may want to follow everyone back.  You will also find applications like Mr. Tweet helpful — Mr. Tweet helps you find more people to follow based on the people you already follow.  (You will also find Tip #5 helpful, so read on.)

You may be asking, WHY does your Twitter follower count matter? It matters if you are trying to be a valuable resource in social media and a voice of influence in the blogosphere.  Your follower count on Twitter is a valuable piece of your measure of influence.  So again, you need to determine what your goal of using Twitter is and then build your strategy accordingly.

3) Avoid gimmicks like auto replies.

Many people (myself included) are turned off by the automatic posting features.  I know it’s tempting because it’s so efficient, but it feels impersonal, and I read constantly how turned-off people are by it.  Even if you try to do it in a creative way, people will catch on eventually.  I strongly advise against using them.

4) Go ahead and promote your posts!

Again, everyone has a different view on this and I realize that some people are very uncomfortable with self-promotion, but I see no harm in promoting your blog posts or your business on Twitter as long as it’s not all self-promotion all the time.

Personally, I rely on Twitter to find interesting posts to read.  I am highly likely to click on your link when you Twitter it.  In fact, I went through my Google Reader yesterday and unsubscribed to a bunch of blogs because I realized that they are active Twitterers and I see their posts on Twitter long before I get around to perusing my Google Reader.

I would advise against using an automated service to announce your new posts.  I tried that for a while, but after using it and seeing others use it and reading more about it, I decided that people would be more inclined to click on the link if I introduce it in a thoughtful and interesting way.

5) Find an application that suits your needs.

I am a huge fan of Twhirl. Tweetdeck is another popular application.  If you follow a lot of people, you will probably want to use something like Tweetdeck because you can create groups and it makes it easier to follow the conversation.  I like Twhirl because it’s a small pop-up box on the side of my screen.  I can see it at all times, and it automatically updates every few seconds.  The downside is you can’t create groups, but if you are selective about whom you follow, as I am, then it works out quite nicely.

For more tips about using Twitter, you can see my post on Darren Rowse’s TwiTip — 7 Ways to Be Worth Following on Twitter.  I got SUCH a positive response to this post — far more than I ever imagined.  I still find it retweeted on Twitter from time to time and get nice comments from people as they discover it.