Twitter is a great way to connect with friends and, if you have a business or blog, your target market. But like any social networking, learning to use Twitter from scratch can be a bit overwhelming, and it's easy to get frustrated when you don't automatically have thousands of followers. So today, I put together seven of my best tips for Twitter beginners.
Tip #1: Be active every day.
It's hard to be successful on Twitter if you're only there once in a blue moon. In order to build your following and get more retweets, you have to be there every single day (or as often as possible). If you're active (and interesting) people will start to notice you.
Tip #2: Follow people.
People are wary of following anyone who isn't following anyone in return. You don't have to follow back everyone, but it is important to get out there and find interesting people to follow. This is how people will find you at first. So, unless you're a famous celebrity, don't hesitate to hit that follow button.
Tip #3: Keep your tweets short and tweetable.
If you use every bit of the 140 character limit, people don't have any space to retweet you with their own comments. Worse yet are people who tweet one thought over the course of multiple tweets. That's not in the spirit of Twitter. 99% of the time, you should keep your tweets as short as possible so people are more encouraged to retweet.
Tip #4: Use hashtags.
Hashtags (anything that starts with #) are ways for you to join a conversation about a specific topic. You can join Twitter "chats" or "parties" were people use a specific hashtag at a specific time to talk to one another or you can simply use any hashtag you want to find other people tweeting about the same topic. In both cases, this is a great way to find people to follow (and for people to find you as well).
Tip #5: Be a giver.
On Twitter, don't just throw out your links and then wonder why no one cares. You have to be a giver on Twitter! Retweet others' links, spend time replying to them (just use @ and their username), and be interested in your followers. If you show people some love, they'll show it back to you.
Tip #6: Fill out your profile.
Who are you? Your tweets alone might not tell me. You want people to know who you are in less than three seconds. So, fill out your profile to include a headshot, a link back to your website if you have one, and a few words about yourself.
Tip #7: Tell people you're on Twitter.
If you already have an audience elsewhere, like on Facebook or through an email list, tell those people that you're now on Twitter. Make an announcement, put buttons on your website, and get your current friends to follow you. Once you start to build a following, it's much easier to find and get new people to follow you. But you have to start somewhere!
This guest post is from Allison with InternetService.net.
