Twitter Tips For New Users

Tips For The Twitter Newbie

Twitter, as a free social networking and micro-blogging site has overtaken the internet by storm. Since its creation in 2006 Twitter has gained notability and popularity worldwide. Today, its users are in tens of millions, and this is expected to increase by a hundred fold in two years.

Twitter today delivers to people the best, freshest most relevant information possible. Twitter in its truest sense is not what we think of as a social network, but it's an information network. It tells people what they care about and what is happening in the world in almost real time. Its unique 140 character micro-blogging or “tweets” is the way information is sent and received.

Starting up in Twitter? Here are some simple tips to follow;

1. Setting up your Twitter profile
The first thing you need to do is to set up that profile. See that bar on top of your twitter page? Click Settings and start filling up your profile. The notable areas in here are URL, bio, picture and design. Put up a link to your site or blog in here along with a brief description. Upload a picture to differentiate yourself from the others and then tweak your Twitter design. Like any other social networking site, it is important to completely express what you are or what you stand for in your profile.

2. Follow people with similar interests and return the follow to those following you
Now that you have a profile, start following people. You can find these people in Twitter directories and by searching for persons to follow. Follow these people and observe their tweets. You may also try following who these people follow. Return the follow to those following you, it will help you get more followers.

3. Get into the conversation that is being “tweeted”
So now that you are following people on Twitter, you will now see some tweets on your board. Read up on what the people your following are up to and reply if it interests you. You may reply with ideas, questions, and comments. When someone asks a question, don’t hesitate to answer if you know it. Don’t be afraid to make an input and interact.

4. Don’t spam or harass
Spam is not tolerated very well on the Twitter community. Some accounts have been shut down by Twitter for strange activity. Spamming is the cause of many “unfollows” on Twitter. This is where someone who has been following you, stops because of harassing tweets and spamming. There is a character limit for a reason. Do not send repeated messages to people. Do not constantly direct message (DM) them with links.

5. Update your tweets regularly
If you wish to blend into the Twitter community there needs to be some activity on your part. Try to tweet as regular as possible. Now update daily if possible. There are some Twitter users who unfollow because of inactivity. Reply to people and update people with what’s going on with your life and other info. This will help you get popular and attract a lot more followers.

6. Find the latest trending topics and contribute
Trending topics are subjects and matters that is very popular and is being tweeted on by a large amount of users. These topics can be found at the lower right of your Twitter page. Find a topic that will interest your niche and tweet it. This will help your status improve in the Twitter community. When tweeting, it’s a nice strategy to always add “please retweet” at the end of your tweet. There will be some people who will be so interested that they will retweet. There are others who will reply to you about the link you tweeted.





7. Help other users out especially with retweets
Retweeting is a good way of establishing relationship on Twitter. Before anyone retweets your tweets you will have to retweets theirs. Before you can receive retweets, you must help others first by retweeting their messages. Help the people in your niche.

8. Create relationships and links
Create connections by chatting on topics of common interests with some of the same people you link up with every night on Twitter. Some users will be more active than others interact with them, as they will be the ones that a lot more people are focused on. Interact a little initially at first, then gradually increase the interaction.

9. Interested in unfollowing people not following you on Twitter?
Some users on Twitter will not follow you but instead prefer to have you follow them and their tweets. Programs such as friend or follow, will provide you with a list of persons you are following and are not following you. These programs will allow you to unfollow in mass or singly.

10. Making money with Twitter
There are applications such as Revtwt, Twivert, Ad.ly, and Twittad, that can help you to make money by tweets on Twitter. Most are automated tweeting systems and pay by vistors to their tweets or by product sales.

Having followed the above tips will go a long way to establishing success as a Twitter user and an established part of the Twitter Community.