For most things you want to accomplish in life, getting started is often the hardest part. The same is true for social media. If you are anxious about getting started it is easy to put off signing up for Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest until tomorrow… or next week… or next month.
To help you stop procrastinating and start achieving your social media goals, here’s a list of the first 5 things you should do to get started on Twitter.
1. Develop your identity.
After choosing a username, or as it’s called on Twitter your “handle,” you’ll want to create a bio that captures the spirit of your business. Keep in mind, more people will find you on Twitter that have no previous knowledge of who you are or what you do than on any other network. If you had just a few seconds (or in this case 160 characters) to explain your business to a complete stranger, what would you say? That will be your bio.
2. Find the right people to follow
Who you follow on Twitter dictates the type of content you have access to and the quality of the relationships you can establish. For this reason, you’ll want to set up some criteria, based on your experience, your industry, and you’re goals. People you want to follow could include: friends, professionals in your industry, other local businesses, colleagues, and even current or potential customers.
3. Send your first tweet
It doesn’t have to be anything earth shattering, and you won’t have any followers (yet) to see it, but it will let people know you are a real person or business and not a robot or spammer. Make the tweet something simple; your introduction to the Twitter world.
4. Get the tools you need
If you want to be successful on Twitter you want to make sure you have the right tools. There are a number of tools out there including two you’ll want to have access to from day one.
– Monitor your profile on the go with the Twitter mobile app.
– Schedule tweets and track your reach with Hootsuite.
5. Connect your touch points
Sounds simple, but connecting your website to your Twitter profile will help drive traffic and organically build your social following.
Don’t forget to have a plan!
Let’s rewind quickly to the point when you first decided to sign up and log on to Twitter.
What were you trying to accomplish? Were you looking to drive more business? Increase brand awareness? Establish yourself as an expert in your industry?
Just being on Twitter won’t be enough to accomplish those goals—even if you follow these steps to getting started. What will allow you to achieve those goals is having a social strategy about the way you plan to engage on Twitter, the type of content you want to share, and the milestones you hope to achieve. Your strategy probably will change once you get started, but by having one before you launch your first tweet, you’ll make it much further than these first 5 steps.
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Gina Watkins is a leading expert on e-marketing for small business – and has a real passion for helping businesses to succeed. Her ongoing series of dynamic lectures are filled with real-world examples, humor and results-driven wisdom garnered from more than two decades of sales, business development and marketing experience. In addition to owning her own business, she is an award-winning direct marketer, has been featured on WUSA Channel 9’s Mind Over Money show, Dr. Gayle Carson’s Women In Business radio show, Morgan State’s Briefcase Radio program, and in numerous other media. In her role as Constant Contact Regional Development Director, she’s presented to more than ten thousand seminar attendees about the keys to success with easy, affordable, highly effective technology tools that grow trusted business relationships.