Top 10 Tips for Twitter … and Life

In this post Crystal N Woods (follow her at @crystalsquest) shares some great tips for those starting out in Twitter.

The buzz this year is all about Twitter, the ‘microblog’ service.

Both the web and twitter are full of pleas from people who say they don’t ‘get it’. In a nutshell, the point of twitter is to post very short updates – no more than 140 characters. It’s a bit like a txt msg for the web, on ‘what you’re doing now’. These tweets can be links to cool sites you’ve found, conversations with other twitter users, questions you want a quick answer for, what you’re having for dinner or even haiku poetry.

The main difference between twitter and txt is: when you send it out it goes out to everyone who’s opted to follow you. On the receiving end, you’re getting these updates from everyone you’ve chosen to follow. This constant flow of short messages to and from is called the ‘twitter stream’. It can be a bit overwhelming at first. Just like modern life. In fact, it occurred to me that the people who ‘get it’ and rave about it the most are the very same people who have achieved vast levels of success in this information age. So, here’s my take on the top 10 success tips for twitter… and Life!

1. Fluff and filler are no longer an option. Nobody has time/interest in reading them. Get to the point.

2. Be real. 140 chars is cut to the bone – you can’t wear a fake character on top and still fit.

3. Pick what’s important. You could use twitter to talk about your day down to the bowel movements, but then you’d have nobody following you. People follow you on twitter because what’s important to you is a match with what’s important to them, so share it!

4. To keep the relationship alive, feed it. Share yourself, and your interests, and give stuff that matches the other person’s interests.

5. Don’t take following/unfollowing personally – as interests change, people will come and go. Faster than in real life, but no different. Accept it.

6. Don’t get overwhelmed. You don’t need to drink the river, just drink FROM it. (this is a major difference between big & small fish)

7. The big fish swim in big streams. They don’t try to control them, just swim in them.

8. Being part of that big stream is NOT a guarantee you’ll have their attention: a fish doesn’t swim through every drop of water on it’s way upstream.

9. To catch the attention of a big fish, you need to:

• send something past them just when they’re looking at that part of the stream;
• send something they’re looking for so they hunt it down; or
• send something so catchy/helpful/viral that others keep putting it in front of them for you.

10. Practice. Start small with a few friends, and gradually grow your circle of influence. Even if you could jump in with 10,000 followers, you probably wouldn’t know how to keep them long unless you’d developed the skill of catching and keeping interest. That skill will serve you well online and offline in ways you can’t imagine…

11. Have fun! The people having the most fun are the ones you most want to hang out with. Be one. (yes, I overdelivered again. Oops)

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.

Top 10 Tips for Twitter … and Life

Related posts:

1. What Percentage of your REAL LIFE friends have Twitter Accounts? [POLL]
2. A life with no Twitter? How to Ensure Your Twitter Network Never Dies (Even if Twitter Does)
3. 6 Tips for Using Your Twitter Profile to Get New Followers

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