Okay, so first off... a housecleaning issue, I'm sorry! No, I didn't do as I said I would and keep up with my blog. Excuses, excuses, excuses, there are a few but really, why bother? Life is good and busy and I haven't taken the time to do more blogging. I hope to change that in the future. That being said, here I go!
So I recently joined a new creative group, more about that later, and was dubbed the, "Twitter Queen"! How funny is that? Funny because I'm a few followers short of say, Justin Bieber's 27 million or Lady GaGa's 29 million. Which, by the way, you should become one of. Yes, follow them, follow many, that's the first rule of Twitter. Follow, Follow, Follow! Chances are most wont follow you back but some will! Anyway, back to the point, so I decided to create a few tips for those of you who are new to Twitter or think you might want to dip your toe in and check it out. FOLLOW me, the water's fine...no pun intended!
#1. As I stated already... FOLLOW! Yes, follow everyone you have an interest in. Do a search of something you are interested in on the search bar and many will come up. Give it a try, put in say, swimming. Your screen will fill up with people / companies / clubs / organizations that have an interest in swimming. Take a peak at a few profiles, don't worry you aren't being a stalker, it's what you are suppose to do! It's very easy to follow and unfollow on twitter so don't worry if you follow someone or something and later decide you don't like their tweets. No biggie, hit that unfollow button and away they will go.
#2. Follow back. Once you start following people some will follow back. Some will see you as a follower and follow because you have a mutual interest. If you do get a follower that you aren't following, follow them back. Before you do however, be sure to read their profile. Be selective but not picky. We can learn a lot from others who aren't like us. One of my favorite Tweeters is a guy in a band in Canada. No, I'm not overly interested in his type of music or Canada for that matter but he says (tweets) some of the most interesting thoughts AND he is always positive and polite, also a Twitter must!
#3. Be Positive! Don't use twitter as a sounding board for your daily grips. If you are frustrated or irritated, try and put a positive twist on it. Yes, I can say this here because we are all buddies...the other day I was ready to shoot my printer. As in go out, buy a rifle and shoot my printer! My tweet was;
#4. Learn the Lingo. @ (followed by a name without spaces) = ID marker, as in if you want to tweet me or direct a comment to me you would put; @toddletags. RT = retweet - you put this in front of tweets you copy and paste that others have tweeted. (Be sure to leave their @ id on there so they know that you retweeted for them.) SO = Shout out, basically just saying hi. MT = Mention, used when you want to thank someone for mentioning you. TY = Thank you. FF = Friend Follow, as in, follow this cool person I follow. You get the picture, when in doubt just hit those magic keys G-O-O-G-L-E, all kinds of tricks, tips and info. can be found.
#5. Use hashtags, they are the number sign #. If you want to send a tweet that would be specific to a certain topic you use hashtags. For example if I wanted to promote a new product that is geared to elementary kids I would use, #elementary #school #teachers #education. Be careful not to over hash, just one or two per tweet is plenty. When someone searches the topic education, your tweet will pop up. Pretty clever, eh?
#6. Say thank you and say it often! If someone RT's (you remember, retweets) for you say thanks. You can do this by putting their @ name and then tweeting your message. Example @begreatgraphics TY so much for the RT! #grateful Right there I've singled out someone that did a RT for me and let them know I appreciate it. This does two things, when someone sees this they think, hey @begreatgraphics RT's for their followers and @toddletags acknowledges when someone does something for them. It's a win, win!
#7. Now I say this with caution...show some personality. Put your best foot forward especially if you are promoting your product / business / service. You want people who read your tweets to get a sense of you not just robotic tweeting. As always, the usual Internet safety applies don't divulge too much info but have some fun and show your sense of humor. For me, my tweets range from new products in my Etsy shop, interesting other Etsy shops I've found, you might even find my tweets referencing my kids (without names, of course) Bon Jovi or Georgia. All things that add a bit of myself but still allow me to retain some anonymity.
#8. Politics and Religion...yikes! I cringe even as I write this! If you are representing yourself as in a personal twitter account, have at it. Tweet it up on your political and religious views. If you are representing your company / brand / service, etc. proceed with caution. That being said, I am a Christian and proud of it. I'm happy to tell anyone, THAT ASKS, about my personal beliefs. However, I keep my tweeting on the subject to a minimum. I will however put an occasional Bible verse or reference to my belief in God. It's exercising my right to freedom of speech! :-)
#9. If you have kids that are on Twitter, follow them and follow everyone they follow. Just a common sense reminder.
#10. Have fun and don't take it too serious! If someone tweets things you don't like, don't stress over it just unfollow them. You control your Twitter account so delete anyone or anything that annoys you or causes you frustration. We can find enough of that in our everyday lives. Tweeting should be fun!
#11. And this is the most important tip I can give to those who have a business / brand / service. Don't over tweet your products / service. People should be directed to your products or website a few times a day and it should be listed in your profile but most of your tweets should be interacting with others, retweeting interesting articles or products that others offer. Remember, if you tweet for them, they will more than likely tweet for you!
So that's it. Again, I'm not claiming to be an expert I just thought I'd share a few tips I've found in the strange cyber land that is TWITTER!
Look me up if you decide to tweet; @toddletags. Have fun, and tweet on!
