How to Join Twitter by Just Coming to the Party and Staying a While!

So you think you can Twitter??

I remember when I first heard about Twitter.  They said “Ya gotta get on it!”  I remember setting up my Twitter account and making my first post.  I just didn’t get it.  I didn’t understand how I, the one person who has no problem spewing out hundreds of words at a time without taking a single breath, could possibly condense my thoughts to 140 characters, including spaces!!

Preposterous!

No way, were just an example of two of the words that came to mind.  However, being the over-achiever that I have a tendency to be, I decided to go for it.

I had no way of knowing the adventure that was waiting for me when I took that step and crossed over the threshold into Twitterland.

New relationships came fast and furious.  Laughs came quicker than I could wipe the tears from the one before.  And the knowledge, oh my gosh, people were actually adding value to my life here.  What a concept.

So I decided to put on my party hat and dancing shoes and stay a while.

At first I just wanted to test the waters, not unlike being at any real party with real guests where you’ve never been before.  You want to know the rules, you want to know who the fun people are, and what you can and can’t say without offending anyone.

Here’s what I learned in my first few weeks.  There is a right way and a wrong way to Tweet.  Tweet right and you’ll be rolling in the followers.  Your party will grow to a point where you will be able to fill a stadium and then some.

But there’s always the other side of the coin.  Tweet wrong and you’ll be left in the dust.  You know what I mean, that lone tumbleweed being tossed back and forth by the wind?

Having said that, I’ll give you some Twitter do’s and don’t’s to help you grow your following to astronomical proportions.

First we’ll get the don’t’s out of the way so we can focus on what’s really important, what to do and some great tips.

Twitter Don’t’s

Don’t Spam – Don’t Spam.  Yes it bears repeating.  This is the No. 1 rule in the Twittersphere.  Everyone dislikes spam in their personal email, and guess what, it’s no different here.  Spamming will create a downward syndrome of lost followers faster than you can bring them on.  It will also get you banned from Twitter, and this is one party you want to be welcome at.  I just recently lost 150 followers at one time and found out it was because the administration was clearing out the clutter (the spammers).  So beware if you get a hankering to blast your MLM opportunity all over the place here.  Just Don’t Do It!

Don’t use inappropriate language or tweet pornography or explicit materials.  It’s just not a good idea.  Rule of thumb:  If you think your tweet will offend at least 50% of the tweetees, it’s probably a good idea to not put it out there.

Don’t be negative or put anyone down in your tweets.  With the economy what it is now, you can open any newspaper, turn on any TV channel or sit anywhere and hear someone talking about the terrible economy and all else that is bad in the world.  This should be an atmosphere of happy, good, uplifting people.  Let’s grow this to epic proportions and see what happens in the world!

Don’t tweet on controversial or political subjects.  The last election was a dead heat, split right around the middle somewhere.  It stands to reason that if you post something about the democratic party and put down the republicans you will turn off half of your followers.  With the click of a mouse, guess what, you are unfollowed!  Just like that.

Don’t tweet on a subject that you know nothing about.  If you don’t know anything about growing hydroponics tomatoes near the equator, don’t tweet about it just because you want to break into that market.  If you don’t have a passion for it, steer clear.  There are plenty of subjects that you are passionate about, and you will attract those followers faster than if you are being fake.

Basically just play nice in the sandbox and you will have a great time here.

Now for the do’s

Do offer value.  If you see an article or a blog post that someone has written that you like and moves you, tweet it.  There is usually a button right on the blog that you can push and it goes right to your twitter account.  This will come back to you ten-fold when you do, plus you will be adding value to you follower’s lives.

**Great content is EVERYWHERE.  With the power of the Internet all you have to do is search and you will find loads of amazing stuff to tweet.  Once you really “get” this, you will be tweeting your fool head off!  And people will be devouring it like a hungry pack of wolves!  You have to understand that if you have a passion for something, ANYTHING, there are people out there that have the same passion and will want what you have to offer.

Do post a picture.  We want to see your smiling face.  If I get a retweet with a picture of someone I immediately check to see if I’m following them.  If I’m not, guess what I do next.  You got it, I follow them.  I do love your dog, cats and babies, but if I’m going to converse with someone on the Internet, I want to see you, and I prefer to see a smile =)

Do be positive.  This is the polar opposite of the Don’t about being negative.  If you post a great quote or a great article or story, it will get re-tweeted.  (Especially by me if I see it).  Once again, this should be an atmosphere of happiness, peace, growing and learning.  There are so many brilliant minds on Twitter, you just have to seek them out.

Do post daily.  If you only post once a week, people won’t get to know you.  You want to keep yourself in front of the pack so they know who you are and look forward to reading your tweets every day.  This will only happen if you are positive and offer value.  (Am I starting to sound redundant?)

Do re-tweet tweeters that you like.  This is another way of helping others.  Zig Ziglar said “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Tweet your passions.  To give you an example, I LOVE quotes.  I have them all over my desk and bulletin board.  I subscribe to several sites that will send me a motivational quote in my email every morning.  I think they’re thought-provoking and mood changing, and sometimes life changing if they have enough impact.  I tweet quotes and I tweet them a lot.  If there are folks who don’t like quotes, does it break my heart, no, I will attract the people out there who like them.  I get comments every day about how much they are liked and read.  If you are an avid gardener, tweet gardening.  If you are a network marketer, tweet network marketing.  One word of caution here, don’t tweet your opportunity, that’s SPAM.  Give good value about the network marketing world and events going on.  You will attract that crowd.

Bottom line here is the more visible you can make yourself, the more value you can add, the more positive you are and the more lives you can impact will determine how much fun you have in Twitterland and how much of an impact it can make on your business and your life.

So, if you aren’t on Twitter now, why not?  Go to www.twitter.com and sign up for your account.  It’s free and it’s a blast.  However, I must warn you, it can be habit forming.  You may find  yourself sitting at you computer at 1:00 a.m. needing toothpicks to hold your eyes open saying to yourself, “Just one more tweet, then I’ll go to bed.”  But suddenly, oh no, what’s that on your screen, a tweet from your buddy in Australia who is just waking up.  Ok, just one more conversation……

Watch for my next post containing little known twitter secrets that will make your life on Twitter easier, faster and way more fun than you could even imagine.

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