Starting this week, I'll talk about what I've learned recently about social media and Twitter.
I've been investing about thirty minutes to an hour a day on Twitter for the last month, and the results so far are very good! I've grown my followership to almost 1200, and am starting to get some business related results (networking, lead generation).
Here's a few tips I've picked up so far — they are not necessarily accepted by the Twitter community as "conventional wisdom".
1. Use a platform such as Tweetdeck or Hoot Suite. I use the former, and it simplifies my Tweeting. Both include your social stream (those you follow), Replies (people using your @ in tweets), Searches (your name, company, book, etc.) and TwitScope (what's buzzing). They include link shortening and picture compression for easy URL/photo tweets. Both program download to your desktop and give you single click access to all things Twitter.
2. Spruce up your Twitter profile page as part of your personal branding. Using a Twitter provided background is not enough to help you stand out. You can use a free design program such as Free Twitter Designer to build a snappy profile (check out @sanderssays).
3. Tweet a minimum of four times a day, but watch out for over tweeting, as people will unfollow you. The secret is to add value with at least 2/3's of your tweets. Which brings me to my fourth observation…
4. It's all about your mix of tweets. By providing a diversity of tweets, you remain interesting to the network and will grow organically. Here's the mix I've come up with (so far): 25% Ambient (what am I doing), 25% found content (RT's and URLs) and 50% advice (sayings, tips, breaking news, etc.).
Follow me on Twitter and add your insight to comments!
