If you’re networking via social media, Twitter is probably one of the networks in your arsenal. But are you blundering about? Are you tweeting too much, or too little, or are you struggling to gain followers?Follow our tips for mastering Twitter if you really want to get your name out there:
1. Follow people back. Unless your new follower is clearly a spammer, try to follow people back as often as you can. There is no reason to limit who you follow if you intend growing your following.
2. Tweet regularly. Although it isn’t necessary to be on Twitter 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you do need to join the conversation on a regular basis. Socialising is the entire point of being part of a social network, so be sure to respond to tweets, share them, ask questions and make a contribution to your network.
3. Don’t automate your tweets. Your followers are probably online much more often than you are, and they’ll pick up your repeat tweets relatively quickly. Repeat tweets and automated “Thank you’s” for following usually don’t garner a positive response.
4. Try not to use Twitter as a promotional tool only – some people make the mistake of only tweeting when they’re holding an event or want to share something related to their business. This is practically considered spamming, and will get you the boot in the social media world. Plus, if you only concentrate on yourself, you reject the idea of a social network, and negate the relationships you could be building with others in your business industry or with people who might end up being a consumer of your product.
5. Don’t chat too much, or be too personal. Socialise with moderation, and don’t concentrate too much on having a conversation with a single person. You also need to remember that, unless you’re using your Twitter account on a personal basis, people really don’t need to know if you’re hungry and “nomming” on a lovely doughnut first thing in the morning. Unless that doughnut was made by you, or a competitor and you’re slamming it.
Source: www.MSN.co.za
