60 Dos & Don’ts Essential for Twitter Newbies

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Twitter has been around since 2006 and the language of tweeting and hashtags have pervaded the social norms. I will put my hand up and admit that I just didn’t get Twitter when I first dipped my toe in.  I got the hang of it though and I’ve never looked back! This list of Do’s and Don’ts should help all your Twitter newbies to get swimming quicker!

DO:

  • Be yourself
  • Show some personality
  • Start following people
  • Acknowledge tweets sent to you
  • Thank people when they RT you
  • Fill out your bio with something meaningful
  • Load up decent profile pic asap
  • Fill your location in
  • Tweet at different times to catch different groups of people
  • Consider different time zones (see above)
  • Search on topics that interest you and follow topic experts
  • Check out people’s bio and link habits to see how much they engage
  • Find original content to share
  • Ask people questions
  • Use Twitter to send traffic to your other social media profiles
  • Retweet content to gain new followers
  • Share content from industry “experts”
  • Add your thoughts to links your share
  • Use a URL shortner like bit.ly
  • Try out a Tweet scheduler to program your tweets
  • Watch, look and listen to how other people tweet
  • Follow people that seem interesting
  • Unfollow people that don’t add any value to your Twitter experience
  • Use Twitter to connect with people at business events
  • Listen to what people are saying and use it guide your content
  • Try and build relationships, just like you would offline
  • Do find your own style on Twitter
  • Enjoy yourself!

DON’T

  • Don’t believe that Twitter is free. It will cost you time which is probably your greatest asset
  • Worry about missing tweets. It happens! A late thank you is better than none
  • Leave your bio empty
  • Forget to include a link to your website (in your bio)
  • Exclude the idea of linking to a twitter landing page (in your bio)
  • Make your website link a short URL (in your bio)
  • Say that you love making money in your bio
  • Be rude
  • Follow everyone
  • Forget to talk to people
  • Worry too much about how many people follow you
  • Ignore people that take the time to tweet you
  • Hashtag every tweet
  • Automate ALL your responses
  • Whinge
  • Forget to check your spelling
  • Use a “party shot” as your Twitter profile picture (if you’re a business)
  • Don’t use a picture of your pet
  • Sell Sell Sell all the time
  • Spam your followers
  • Share mundane updates all the time
  • Use a tiny image for your avatar
  • SHOUT!
  • Use up your available characters with really long links
  • Worry about unfollowing people
  • Tweet too much in a single burst – space it out
  • Start a tweeting schedule you can’t maintain
  • Be afraid to have a point of view
  • Share too much detail about your personal life
  • Retweet without crediting the original tweeter
  • Forget that you can keep an eye on your competitors
  • Listen to everything on this list – find your own way!

So they are my top tips for Twitter newbies with special thanks to @lutrov and @mikerussell_ for their contributions. Do you agree? What can you add to the list?

I’d love to know and so would Twitter newbies!

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17 Responses

  1. I never use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck for Facebook updates.  They come across as very impersonal and as you can type a lot more with facebook vs. twitter, it makes sense to do it separately.

    Twitter updates on LinkedIn however are sensational 🙂

    1. Thanks for your comment Gavin. I don’t mind using a tool like Tweetdeck to post to Facebook but I don’t really like updates that are clearly tweets appearing on Facebook and vice versa. I recommend tailoring your Facebook or LinkedIn update to be Twitter-friendly which also makes sure you don’t have the good stuff truncated!

      Hey I should add that to the list!

  2. Great list Belinda.  I also recently set up special landing pages for people who click on my links in my twitter and LinkedIn bios – also helps with seeing exactly how many visitors came from those two applications!

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