Twitter took off as a success in 2008. By the end of 2008, the numbers told us that 70% of all Twitter users had joined in 2008. Some people prefer to have a few close friends following them. Those people can do what they want. But if you’re interested in building a brand and using Twitter to promote it, here are some observations and best practices. Just keep in mind the old saying from grade school: “What if everyone did that?”
Rules for tweeting:
- Don’t tweet more than 4-5 times a day.
- Tweet interesting things.
- Share photos and links with services like twitpic
- Don’t blab about what you’re eating unless you intend to share the recipe.
- Do not put private communications on the public twitterstream
- DO NOT publicly welcome all of your new followers. Imagine reading pages of that.
- It’s okay to tweet your blog posts, but it drives people away if that’s all you do.
- Don’t join a “monetize your tweets” service like Magpie, as it will make people leave you.
- Don’t brag about how many followers you have. Everyone can already see that.
- Don’t ask for more followers. Bored!
- Retweet others frequently when they have tweeted something good.
- Respond to people in public if you think others would be interested.
- Don’t tweet things like “Gaaaaaaah.” We need context.
- Tweet at least every other day.
- Be happy and positive.
- Be human.
How to treat people who follow you
- Don’t send an automated direct message thanking each new follower and sending them your pitch. Direct Messages are individual and personal.
- Thank new followers by following us if you haven’t already.
- Don’t direct message followers you’re not following because they can’t send you a direct message.
- Recheck the profiles of people you don’t follow from time to time. Some tweets just take a little getting used to.
How to treat the people you follow
- Don’t follow people just to get them to follow you back and then unfollow them.
- Don’t mass follow, or you’ll be considered a spammer even if you never tweet.
- Follow the followers of the people you really like.
- Don’t follow “rock stars” exclusively. Follow some interesting newbies. They will love you for it.
- Use a third-party Twitter client, such as tweet deck, to manage the tweets you follow in groups.
- Don’t just read their direct messages and replies. Take a dip in the creek from time to time.
- Give them some time to follow you.
- Try to follow as many people as they follow you.
