Beginner’s Guide to Twitter – Profile
Is Twitter Working for You?
Imagine.
You are sent or invited to a huge conference or the world’s largest networking event. What a opportunity! People from every industry all over the world are gathered talking and sharing what they do and how they do it. But there’s thousands maybe millions of them who all seem to do know what to do. The opportunity is overwhelmingly huge.
You stop to look around yourself and realize that you’re only one you.
How do you get from being a one to being part of the group? How do you find that part of the group that is the best fit for you? That huge opportunity requires the ability to sort and navigate what looks like an almost infinite group. How will you find or gather the group that will make the easiest, fastest most meaningful?
How Do You Tailor Twitter to You
This guide to Twitter is for people who are new. It’s also meant for “Tweeps” who know that their Twitter isn’t doing as much as it might do. If you got on Twitter without a strategy. If you’re are feeling like no one sees or hears you. Start from the ground up to tailor Twitter to you and people who would value what you do.
Let’s visit your Twitter account with a look toward attracting and reaching out to the people you’d want to make relationships with in the World’s Largest Networking Room.
Networking is all about connecting. It’s natural for people to feel more comfortable connecting to other folks who
- who know the kind of people they like to talk to
- who share something about who they are.
- who offer value that’s easy to see
- who show generosity and start a conversation to learn more about other people rather than to “sell” themselves.
On Twitter it helps to know why we’re there – what kind of people you want to meet and talk with. It’s easier to find and attract those people in the world’s largest networking room if we think about them in how we put together everything they see, read, and know about us.
The Profile
Just as you decide to what to wear to a gathering at Joe’s Pizza and BrewPub might be different than what you wear to the Ritz Charity Gala, your profile is what you wear into the Twittersphere. What you say in your profile reveals what you value and respect. It’s not about you, it’s about the people you want to connect with.
Click on anyone’s twitter name and you’ll land on their profile page. If I click on your name, what does your profile page say about you?
- The avatar: Everyone wants to know who we’re talking to. Does your avatar look like you? Does it show as you might look while talking to the people you want to connect with?
- The Bio: We’re all broader and deeper than the 160 characters that fit in a Twitter bio.
Did you think about the people you want to form relationships with while you were assembling it? If you want to connect with other moms and dads, mention your family and your kids. If you want to talk to CEOs, mention your business and what makes your business worth getting to know. - The link: We’re all interested in more about the people we know. Do you link to something that tells more about you — your blog, your LinkedIn profile, your about.me page? Is what you’re linking to the same place that the people you want to form relationships with would choose?
- The timeline of your Tweets: What we tweet and retweet reveals a lot about who and what we value. 0 tweets makes me wonder why you’re silent at a networking event.
What % of your timeline is only about you? What % is @mentions in which you raise other up? Do you curate and offer content from sources other than your own? If we want people to listen to and participate in our conversation, it helps to think about them and make our messages relate to them deeply.
- The Following / Follower Ratio: Newbies and spammers follow thousands more people than the number of people who follow them back.
The ratio of Following to Followers offer insight into whether you are listening or talking. If your ratio is 2/1 or higher (following 2, you’re likely to be broadcasting — talking but not listening. You might also be listening, but you’re not responding. If your ratio is 1.5 you or less, you are likely to be listening as well as talking. If your ratio is less that 1.5, your followers are likely to be listening to you. Find new people to follow knowing that others will look at the ratio as a way of determining whether you’re a broadcaster or a communicator.
- The Background: The default background is like inviting someone home to a free hotel room. Nothing about it shares anything about you.
Changing to one of the offered backgrounds is easy. Go to Settings > Design and find one you like that might be attractive to people you’d like to talk with. Uploading a favorite photo or simply changing the color takes little time but shows that you’ve invested even a few minutes in making the space your own.
All together a Twitter profile can offer a picture of someone worth trusting and getting to know. What you put there and what you tweet can lead me to connect with you, learn more about you, explore your expertise. It can be what leads to a relationship in which we swap stories, strategies, and knowledge gathered. A great profile draws the interest of people who value what you do and disinterest people who don’t. Here’s what mine says about me.
Or it can make me wonder whether you’re a spammer.
Visit your own profile page to consider these questions. If it belonged to a stranger, how much confidence would you have in making a relationship? Would you trust that the person behind the page is real? Would you risk a conversation with him or her? Would trust his or her recommendations? Does your Twitter Profile page attract people you want it to meet — people who value what you do?
More tomorrow on Tailoring Twitter to Build the Network to Support You.
Be Irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
Related
Tailoring Twitter: Building a Powerful Network that Fits You Perfectly
Tailoring Twitter: Get Busy Folks to âGetâ Twitter in 2 Minutes Flat!
Tailoring Twitter: The ROI of Curating Content on Twitter
More on Twitter profiles:
How to Write a Twitter Bio that Attracts More Followers by @blueskyresumes
Twitter Avatars as Personal Branding by @ahockley
The Top 7 types of Twitter avatars by @10000words
20 Twitter Bios that Demand Attention by Iron Shirt Media Blog.
How to Write a Great Twitter Bio to Get Targeted Followers by @salmajafri
What is Your Following/ Follower Ratio? @Gauravonomics
This was a interesting post. Twitter to me is a bit like fashion trends. Somethings they catch and somethings they do not. I am a building a new brand and your blog has some helpful new perspectives on traditional on line business ideas.
Thanks,
Heather Belle
Ok, Liz, I take your point. Just took a look at your Twitter profile and then mine. I see I’ve got some work to do. Thanks.
Hi Mike,
We all have some work to do somewhere. As life speeds up and we spread out to new places our infrastructure gets pulled thin. Hopefully it doesn’t reflect us and our state of mind, but sometimes it may pass on that image to some. Every now and then, checking in is a good thing!
New people need to know where to saerch and find out good information to get started.We look to you the ones who “have been there and done that”.Your information has boosted my knowledge of social media. Thank you.
Do drop by again.
Hi Grandma!
Glad that what I shared was helpful! Stayed tuned … part 2 to come!
Thanks for these great tips Liz! As a new tweeter, I will definitely go back to my drawing board and make a few changes. I appreciate the info!
Hi Linda,
What impresses me is that you’re making your own standards. 🙂
Thanks Liz! I’m scurrying off to spiff things up…we’re still a work in progress I’m afraid. One question…I keep hearing the advice to use a human photo rather than the company logo, but as a company, how do we decide whose mug to put on there?
“Newbies and spammers follow thousands more people than the number of people who follow them back.” Hmmm. Which is @GuyKawasaki: a newbie or a spammer?
Liz- Not too long ago I wrote a whole post on 7 ways to be hated on Twitter. It blows my mind the number of eggs I come across as an avatar. I’d also suggest putting someone’s name into Tweetstats & see what kind of ratios are they running.
Right now, mine are slightly over 65% communication with others to posts & RT’s.
Hi Jeremy,
It’s all about value and knowing / trusting the people we’re talking to. 🙂
Twitter works great for me — I see a ton of space- and NASA-related info through there — even got to go to Houston last year because of it. 🙂
Thanks Liz, I am always interested in learning more about twitter & how to interact there 🙂
Good Artickle Liz!
In my case is some different. I am twittering in 4 Languages and also have very interesting private conversations about some important topics and also about funny things with many persons from different nations. Many followers know it and they don’t mind when I have a long conversation in a language they don’t understand. Some of them ask me even, what we are talking about 🙂
It growed slowly but in a very nice way, so I enjoy twitter indeed. I am not a non- stop twitter user but if I am there, I like to be there.
Regards
Tedora
It was a pleasure reading and sharing your blog post.
Thank you! 🙂
Thank you Liz!! Always insightful.
Thanks Liz coming over and Mission accomplished 🙂
Liz
Maybe it is time for me to redo my twitter bio… it has been some time but this post has got me thinking… thanks
Great post and advices
thanks Liz, definitely helped me to go back and look over my profile, and also to know I’d hit all the points you made.
https://twitter.com/davidsanger
I’d also add that maintaining interesting and helpful industry Twitter lists is another good practice.
Great article. Thanks for sharing
I get a few sales, a few RTs and a few DMs that are not spam. Not sure I am doing it right but I am doing it. I mostly use Tweets to list shops that carry my Baby Shoe patterns.
Nice Tips. My challenge is to fit a description the text limit my “multiple twitter activities”
Another spot-on post… 🙂
Thanks for the tips Liz, always good stuff here!
great post – helpful!
I am finding this article quite interesting but will need to read it tomorrow when I am not quite so tired.
I love this. Always good to read your blogs. Miss you and have a great day!!!
Thanks Liz, a great post.
Twitter works for me, as I no longer adopt a follow for follow strategy.
To me this kred is of more value than any any unreliable number from klout.
Twitter is a powerful tool in the social media tool kit, but it takes take to get into any position of real influence. Anyone with a degree of patience and street smarts can make it work, but realistic targets, expectations and a long term strategy is the key to success.
Cheers. Catherine