Twitter 103 – Using Twitter to Promote Yourself
You know the basics of Twitter and how to build your Twitter network. This third and final post offers some questions and answers to help you use Twitter to promote yourself effectively:
What should you tweet about?
By this point, you hopefully have at least a handful of people following you on Twitter. The best way to keep those people interested and to attract new followers is to share relevant, interesting, and insightful information. Position yourself as knowledgeable about a topic by sharing links to articles and videos that you think are worthwhile. For example, a photographer might share a new article about artistic photography one day and link to a particularly inspiring flickr photo the next.
Feel free to occasionally tweet about things that are just for fun. Sharing a joke or a funny or bizarre article allows your followers to get to know your personality. But if you’re using Twitter as a way to network, be wary of sharing status updates that are too personal.
How many followers should you have?
The average Twitter user has over 100 followers. You can always increase your number of followers by finding relevant people to follow and then hoping that they follow you back. Your bio is a good way to increase the likelihood that you’ll get reciprocal follows, as many Twitter-ers like to scan a bio to learn about the person that has just elected to follow them.
How can you promote yourself with a Twitter bio?
First, make sure you have your bio filled out! Include keywords such as your industry, company, or topic of expertise, as you want people to understand who you are and what you do. Your bio doesn’t have to be dry, but it should be professional. It’s generally recommended that you also link to your personal blog (if you have one) or your LinkedIn profile so that interested Twitter-ers can learn more about you. Always include your location, and tack on the nearest city if you’d like to enhance your searchability (e.g., West Palm Beach, Florida, north of Fort Lauderdale). Finally, leave the “Protect My Tweets” button unchecked in your bio so that you get maximum exposure from your tweets.
How often should you tweet?
Good question! Some recommend tweeting often, while others don’t want to bombard their followers with unnecessary banter. My vote is to tweet no less than a few times a week and no more than a few times a day – just make sure you’re consistently tweeting over time! You should also try to respond to as many tweets as you can, either using the @ feature or with a direct message. Remember that Twitter is all about engaging in conversation.
What should you do if your boss follows you on Twitter?
Use common sense in your tweeting, which you should do anyway. Don’t be rude, don’t gossip or discuss things about your work situation, and don’t ever tweet when you’re upset – especially about something at work.
What’s coming next from Twitter?
Today, LinkedIn announced its integration with Twitter, meaning you can share a Twitter status update on LinkedIn and vice versa. After you opt-in, just add a #li or #in hashtag to your tweets to automatically sync the update with LinkedIn.
Twitter is likely going to introduce a geolocation feature in the next few weeks that will allow users to include an exact location while tweeting. By adding location granularity to the vast amount of Twitter info, you’ll be able to filter information much more easily. This should allow you to find and share more relevant local information (which is a good thing for networking!)
By: Gale Bowman
11-12-2009
After graduating from Notre Dame, Gale realized that young professionals need a source of reliable information as they face “real world” challenges. Gale manages WhatCollegeForgot.com and is pursuing an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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