The other 50 things I've learnt about Twitter...
This follow-on blog is slightly more “technical” in places and a bit “geeky” in others, but these tips and tricks are the rules I live by in my virtual networking home.
I'm no expert, but I do spend a large amount of time on Twitter and these are my findings. If you have any comments I’d love to hear your views.
51. Share stuff. I follow people because they are useful. Make your account useful and make people want to follow you. It doesn't have to be your own content, but if it's useful and constant people will consider you to be a useful Tweeter and keep following you. Keep your URL links succinct. bit.ly is a URL shortening service used on Twitter, it saves precious spaces by reducing the number of characters in your link.
52. Who do I follow? I always get asked this question. The answer is to follow who you want to. Make your timeline what you want it to be. Start by looking at who your friends follow, and have a look around. See who other people are tweeting, and of course pay attention to #followfridays.
53. Use the search box. Twitter is an amazingly powerful tool, so unleash it by searching its millions of users. Try typing your favourite sport or local town into the search box, and see who is tweeting about it. I search for Warwick, then tweet people with help and advice. It makes me a useful tweeter and also gains followers and trust, which is what Twitter is all about.
54. Keep up. Twitter is the fast lane of social networking. If Facebook is the 'B' road, Twitter is the Nurberger ring.Don't worry if you miss bits and pieces, but try to resist commenting on conversations from too long ago unless you have something vital to add. Keep it short. Keep it sharp. Stick to the point. Move on.
55. Breaking down the Jargon. When people talk on Twitter it can be difficult to understand. #hashtags are used to mark key words or topics in a tweet. Clicking on a hashtagged word shows you other tweets in that category. Hashtagged words that become popular are often trending topics.
56. RT is Retweet (a tweet re-shared with followers). People often do this << at the bottom of a Retweet to highlight their own comment, something like this: "RT@underwoodwines have you seen our latest Rioja range?<<I love Rioja.
57. Be creative. I often tweet my action *waves frantically* to really show my character. Try it when you tweet *goes off to practice.* It can add humour and depth to your tweets. *trips over own tips.*
58. Engage. SO IMPORTANT! Don't just blab on about how brilliant you are and how super fantastic your workout was. Ask a question in a tweet, or give help to others, ensure you offer your opinion and converse with others. Don’t forget that when they tweet back, all their followers see YOUR name and will want to know who YOU are. The more people you tweet, the more exposure you get. Get chatting.
59. Tweet a link to a Facebook conversation. I do this a lot. Businesses can run a competition on a Facebook wall then push traffic towards it with tweets. Update your followers each time, and tell them the story of what is happening over on your wall. Sell it to them and they will want to join in. You may get extra likes on Facebook too.
60. STOP retweeting #FFs. It’s great to be #FFed, so DO reply to the person and thank them. However, there is no need to retweet it. It comes across as lazy, and can be annoying to anyone else included in the same tweet. I was once notified 4 times by my iPhone because all the other tweeters included in a boring #FF simply retweeted it. I unfollowed the original tweeter. Harsh but true!
61. Tell a story. Anyone that follows my tweets for @UnderwoodWines knows that #Diane is our vintage van or that the Pie Factory is in fact our warehouse and shop in Warwick. Create your character on Twitter and have that "soap opera" appeal where people can pick up your tweets whenever they can and still catch up and join in.
62. Current affairs. Tweet about things happening now and just watch the Twitter waters ripple, but tweet about your amazing cup of tea and digestive biscuit and await the tumbleweed!
63. Turn on your notifications. It still amazes me that people don't use the amazing service that Twitter offers with real time tweets. Conversation on Twitter is what makes it better than Facebook. If you have a smart phone, use Twitter on the go - it’s a revelation!
64. Be grateful. Thank your new followers, and say hi to them. Once they have followed you, check them out and comment and engage with them. Don't miss the opportunity to cement the connection.
65. Dig deep. Remember that guy/girl you chatted about the X Factor with, or that company you shared a love of Rod Stewart with? What happened? You connected and then nothing. I love going back through my follower lists and tweeting an old converser. Try it who knows where it will take you?
66. Get rid of the deadwood. I recently used @Twitcleaner to identify all the rubbish and spam bots and basically all that "noise" on Twitter that gets in the way of the latest #Apprentice news.
67. Read it later. There is so much information on Twitter that you are not going to be able to read everything. When you see something useful that you want to read, but need to go into that dull sales meeting, use a read it later service like @Instapaper. Most are even integrated into Twitter apps making it a simple touch of a button.
68. Do something different. Stand out from the Twitter crowd by doing something funny or interesting.
69. Learn from Twitter. In the beginning, everyone sits at their computer, staring at the screen and wondering what to do with no followers. Simply by engaging with others and copying their actions or following their lead, you too can be a great Tweeter. Twitter is like joining a party in full swing, on your own. Everyone is already getting on well and you feel nervous. Stand and watch for a while from the punch bowl and see how they engage, then copy and follow until you understand. You can then evolve into your own Twitter personality.
70. Use the lingo. I imagine you often adopt a different style or approach for different people in real life. Twitter is no different. You fit in better when you shorten links or #hashtag words. People have a way of speaking on Twitter, so understand it and try to adopt it.
71. Follow keywords. Interested in photography or baking? Like cycling or cars? Then type the word into the Twitter search box and look at the tweets from time-to-time. Tweetdeck is great for this, as you can add 'columns' of any search so it is always on your screen.
72. Open your doors. People are nosy, and love having a good look at what you're doing. Use this human characteristic to enhance your event by tweeting others involved in organising the event. People will see the organising take place, and will not only become interested by the tweets but will add to the conversation and help where they can. This tweeting raises the profile of the event without any hard sell.
73. Grow up. Twitter is a fun and often silly place where people banter and share links of cats falling off sofas and dogs saying, ‘I love you,’ but… tri not 2 tweet lyk a 13 yr old rites a txt msg. Your followers are less likely to respect your views and help you.
74. Get involved. Can you help or advise a tweeter? Then do it. They will be grateful and thank you. In turn their followers will then see, and you will gain accolade and win shed loads of cash...OK, I slightly over-embellished that last bit, but you get the picture. Twitter is one big family helping, sharing and chatting. Get involved, you can't stand by that punch bowl on your own at the party forever.
75. Have a plan. What do you want from Twitter? Have a goal and keep it in mind. Sure you can spend all day tweeting about the weather or posting links from Justin Timberlake YouTube videos, but you may be missing the point of Twitter...
76. Have a daily post. I follow a company called @Maunconsulting and every other morning they post a #MAUNing thought. It's a great idea and often contains useful information. I now often retweet the thought of the day to my followers. Think about what you could offer and generate that 'feature' approach to Twitter. Like all advertising, people will have to see it a few times for it to register - so stick with it.
77. Blogging. I love blogging! Twitter is great, but 140 characters can be restricting. Write about your passion, blog it, then share the link on Twitter. It's also a great way for people get to know you better.
78. Be careful. The greatest thing about Twitter is its ability to reach to millions via 140 characters. The danger is unwanted attention. Think before you tweet...
I'm having a great time in Madrid on holiday.
= My house is currently empty - please help yourself to that TV I tweeted about last week.
Hey @mybessyfriend fancy a pint down the Red lion?
= I just called in sick but I hope nobody tells my boss.
79. Twitter is not Facebook. Unless the information you share is OK for anyone in the world to read, then keep it to yourself. Even when you're in a conversation with someone ANYONE can see it!
80. Don’t be bullied. Block and report anyone who spams or hassles you.
81. Try not to tweet brand names. You will get spammed for weird and wonderful things. I even found myself spammed by a Tesco voucher bot the other day. When I talk about my mobile I say iPh@ne and iPad has become iPatch and so on. It can actually be great fun trying to outwit the Twitter baddie.
82. Privacy. Never publicly tweet your email address. Twitterbots will seek and spam innocent email addresses, so keep it within a DM.
83. Auto DMs. Automatic replies thanking me for following are annoying and lazy. If you can't be bothered to thank me personally then don't bother at all. Robots belong on the factory line, not on Twitter. Humans get the love; Robots get the boot!
84. Recommendations. Just because someone is not on Twitter does not mean they don't benefit from referrals or get blasted for bad service. Twitter is a referral machine, and even those not on Twitter will be benefiting or suffering from bad press because of it. If you're a company tweeter keep your eyes peeled. If you own a company and are not on Twitter then get on it quickly!
85. Technophobia? Do you struggle with bad WiFi or confuse your synch with your link? Welcome to all the help you'll ever need. Twitter is crawling with helpful geeks falling over themselves to guide you. I have watched many a Damsel in Distress get talked through a Sky+ box reset or seen people discover apps for their Smartphone that revolutionise their lives forever (I'm one of them). So the next time you get a 404error or iTunes is playing up just shout out...Tweet the Geeks because they love to offer up free useful advice.
86. Follow big brands. Firstly, this stores their user name so you can easily mention them when happy or annoyed at their service. Secondly, there are some great offers on social media and Twitter is no exception. Most of the big brands are on Twitter and although some are poor at engaging, the PR/Marketing monkeys running the Twitter campaign love to give away free stuff.
87. Link to your Site: Twitter is a great way to push traffic to your website or blog. Be careful not to push them on to people too much though. Do make sure you have a web address or blog URL in your bio(profile description) when you type your address into the space provided on your bio it becomes a link. People on Twitter are busy and need things to be quick and simple.
88. Be clever. Posting the same link all day long will annoy your followers. It could also flag you as a spammer. When someone replies saying, "Hey great link," retweet to your followers with a comment - "Thanks, I’m pleased you liked my post." That way you kill 3 birds with one tweet. You’re reposting the link in a non-spam way, you’re thanking the retweeter AND you’re showing positive feedback on the link to followers who may have missed it or who weren’t previously interested.
89. Check your settings. So often I see people who tweet with a 'Geotag' which uses the GPS technology in your Smartphone to pinpoint your position. Often they don't realise that their phone is giving out their position! Be careful.
90. SMS. The humble text message. Twitter is based around the simple "Short Message Service" and if you wish, you can tweet by text. Just add your mobile number to your settings in Twitter.
91. Website. By all means let others know you are on Twitter via a Twitter plug-in on your website, but I’m not convinced of the benefits of a Twitter side bar showing your latest tweets. Not everyone will understand the hilarity of the current conversation. Often these sidebars can look quite cheap too.
92. TWords. Almost every word can have ‘Tw’ added to the front of it! Twubcrawl, Tweetup, Twallenge. Twitter is rife with them. Get creative, but I recommend you avoid talking like this away from Twitter!
93. Multiple posting. By this I mean using Tweetdeck or Hootsuite or any desktop service to update your Twitter and Facebook. I often see the same posts on a Facebook page as the Twitter feed. It’s lazy and odd when you talk in Twitter speak on Facebook. Use them alongside each other - but realise that they are different beasts too. People engage differently on the two platforms, so posting differently gets better results.
94. Be friendly. I refer to people on Twitter by their real name, because it’s more familiar and makes engaging with people easier. The real name of most tweeters is shown on their profile page or on a mobile device, if you just tap their picture. Although I tweet for @Underwoodwines, I still have my name in the Bio, "Tweets by Todd," so that people know who they are talking to. If you tweet for a company maybe you should introduce yourself, or sign off your tweets as The Carphone Warehouse or Orange do so well. Like this...^Todd.
95. Bio. I refer to this little description of yourself in my first 50 things, but it is so important I will mention it again. When you’re considering following someone, you probably have a nose at their profile picture and more importantly their Bio, which is 160 characters describing them. When writing your Bio, use keywords, think about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and include your likes and hobbies. Silly quirky Bios like "I like turtles" or "Often eats fish for tea" are all well and good but they won’t really tell anyone what you are about. Like with most things online, you get a very limited time to capture attention, so make it count.
96. Timing is everything. If you have something interesting to share, tweet it when most people will see it. 11am is a great time to announce something as people often take a 10 minute break and check Twitter. I also get a great response at around 8am and 7pm. Remember that your followers might be in different time zones, so mixing it up a little can widen your audience too. People are creatures of habit, so learn these and work around them.
97. Be a personality. I don’t profess to be Steven Fry, but I do lend my personality to Twitter and it makes people want to engage with me.
98. Research. Twitter is HUGE. Just type it into Google and see how much there is out there written posted discussed and shared about it. Twitter is forever changing, so get on the bandwagon and pay attention to what’s going on. Like the technology behind it, it never stands still.
99. Learn to shut-up! As my followers will testify, I struggle with this one myself! Twitter is great fun and so easy to use. If you tweet too much your followers will learn to skim over your tweets. We all follow an account that we simply don't read the content of the tweet as we already know what it says. Keep it varied, keep it interesting, keep it useful.
100. Last but not least. Use Twitter in a way that suits you best. There are no real rules. These 50 things are my own findings, but everyone is different and every company is different. Indeed every field of interest or expertise is unique in its own way...isn't that what makes life so wonderful and exciting? Be different, stand out, blend in, go against the grain, copy others or create your own niche. Twitter (like life itself) is what you make it. So enjoy it! I certainly do.
As always I welcome your comments. The comment box below is open to all without signing in. Alternatively you can Tweet me @Underwoodwines and let me and your followers know what you think!
Cheers Todd@Underwoods
