Twitter Assistant

Think of your bio as your opportunity to tell the world a little something about you that they may find interesting. The more interesting you sound to people who read your bio, the more likely they will be to follow you and be interested in your Tweets.

It’s a bit like window shopping. If you were window shopping for followers, what would entice YOU to follow you? What would make you interesting to YOU? You must consider that angle when creating your bio in order to get the best result possible.

That being said, here are a few practical tips to consider when creating your bio. Remember that you only get 160 characters to tell the world about you.

Those 160 characters should include a keyword or two relevant to your business that will help folks find you, as well as your name if your user name happens to be an alias. It should also include the URL to your quality website.

Remember to NOT use all caps when creating your bio, as in the on line world this is considered ’shouting’ and really tends to make your bio a bit difficult to read. Also, don’t try and fit more words in by runningallyourwordstogetherlikethis. Seriously this will completely turn off any potential followers and it does you no favors whatsoever.

Have a lot to say though and the 160 character limit just isn’t cutting it? There is a work around. Create an account at www.tweetspinner.com. It will allow you to create more than one bio and rotate them around on a periodic schedule. This way you can include even more cool facts about yourself to entice followers into becoming one of your Tweeps! Handy huh?

Some other things to keep in mind when creating your bio is to avoid flaunting your ego. Don’t boast as you will just look like a jerk and turn off potential followers. Be friendly, engaging, and interesting. Those are the magic 3 ingredients to the perfect bio, and I KNOW you have it in you.

Two final tips- If you don’t have a current quality blog or website set up to link to in your bio, use the opportunity to link to one of your other social network accounts, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. And finally, don’t forget to include your location. There are many local and off line connections to be made on Twitter, but they can only be made if people actually know where in the world you are. So make sure to include your city, and have a great time Twittering with all your Tweeps!

You’ve gone through all the steps, you have set up your Twitter account, your all logged in. NOW what? It’s easy fellow Tweep…get to Tweeting! Start having fun, and enjoying yourself on Twitter.

Remember that Twitter is primarily a social network, so the idea is to get out there and be social. That being said, here are a few tips to get you started with enjoying your Twitter experience.

The first tip is to make sure your Twitter name is easily searched and relevant to you or your business. If not, you can go into settings, and as long as the user name is available, you can change it. A great idea you can implement when choosing your user name, is check out www.KnowEm.com. This will search your user name across all of the social networks, and if it’s available you can then use their services to register that name all across the board. Then make sure you add a nice picture for your avatar, and a line for your bio telling Tweeps a bit about yourself.

Next, start following some folks that you find interesting. Chances are they will follow you back, and then you can get a conversation going. Start talking, and posting Tweets. You can start by saying hello and introducing yourself. Even if you don’t have many followers yet, you will have them, and people will peruse your time line to see if you actually ever Tweet or not.

It can feel a bit weird to post when there aren’t too many folks listening, but it’s a great time to just get familiar with Twitter, and using @replies and DM’s. Once your followers start to increase, it will get much more difficult to keep up, so take advantage of the calm before the storm to learn Twitter thoroughly!

Remember to use your @replies as well. If you don’t use them, you are just broadcasting into Twitter space, and not really connecting with anyone. And many new Tweeps never realize people may be talking back to them, because they don’t know to check their own @replies!

To gain followers you find interesting, click on friends profiles and follow some of their folks. Or do a search for profiles with similar interests, and follow them. Chances are they will follow you back and your Twibe will grow.

Also be careful with auto DM’s. And if you DO use auto DM’s, try and limit it to greeting new followers, and make it as friendly and ‘unautomated feeling’ as possible. When you hit your followers with a bunch of uninspired auto DM’s, they are just going to view you as a spammer, and we don’t want that.

Another great tip, especially with business, but with personal accounts as well, is don’t use the ‘private’ or ‘locked’ feature on your account. Very few folks will bother following you if they can’t see your Tweets. This is self defeating, so just don’t do it.

And finally, just have fun with it. The more you Tweet and follow others, the more your own followership will grow. Conversations will get bandied back and forth, and before you know it you will be a seasoned Tweep, and wonder what the heck life was ever like before you happened across the Twitterverse! Happy Tweeting Twitter Heads!