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5 Terrible Twitter Tips

I truly love Twitter . Without question, Twitter had increased my visibility, created thousands of leads for my small business and produced dozens of sales for my products and services.

Written Dec 15, 2009, read 2405 times since then.

I truly love Twitter. Without question, Twitter had increased my visibility, created thousands of leads for my small business and produced dozens of sales for my products and services.

And every single day of the week, I run into quite a few self-proclaimed “Twitter-Experts.”

Of course, as with any industry, I find that all of the soapbox experts fall into one of three main Twitter categories:

1) The “Twitter Virtuoso” with interesting and often remarkable advice;

2) The “Quasi-Twitter Expert" who has an average suggestion here or there;

3) The “Twittering Fool” who shouldn’t even be on Twitter in the first place.

There are hundreds of great tips and strategies that come from experienced individuals who are truly boosting their income through the power of Twitter. However, beware of those crows who are masquerading as eagles. If you listen to them, your Twitter days will be incredibly disappointing.

Here are the five worst tips I have personally received regarding marketing on Twitter:

1) Don’t Promote Yourself. This is bad advice on so many different levels. Obviously, any savvy marketer understands that you don’t jump on Twitter and start tweeting “Check out my product…it’s really the best one in the world!” This just goes without saying.

However, if you are using Twitter as a marketing tool you need to do a bit of balanced marketing. There are only so many Tweets in which you can tell your followers what you are having for dinner until people start to unfollow you.

Twitter is a two-way street. Of course you are there to ask questions, listen and interact with your followers. But, you also need to let your followers know about blog posts, articles and press releases that highlight you and your business. Don’t be afraid to do a bit of self-promoting.

2) Don’t Autofollow. I absolutely disagree with this advice. I use www.SocialOomph.com to automatically follow everyone who follows me. I then get to know whom I am following through their Tweets. If I find they are annoying, rude or inappropriate, I unfollow them. But, how can I make a decision to follow someone based on a 140-word profile? For all I know, this person could be the next Faulkner with some of the most profound Tweets known to mankind.

I can only decide if someone is worth following AFTER I am following them and reading their Tweets. I truly believe that it is in good taste to follow everyone who follows you and then unfollow those who are not compatible with you. Not to mention that it takes too much time to manually decide whom to follow and whom to ignore.

3) Don't Use Automated Software For Posts. There are some individuals that believe that automated posts (posts that you preschedule through a service like www.socialoomph.com) are too impersonal. However, I preload helpful marketing and small business quotes into socialoomph.com and auto-send them out throughout the day to my followers. Many of my followers love these quotes and actually look forward to them. Plus, it keeps my small business in front of my followers as much as possible.

Of course, I also log into Twitter every day and interact personally with my followers as well. I believe that if you combine auto-posts with personal interaction, you will leverage the power of Twitter in a much more meaningful way.

4) Keep Daily Stats On How Many People Unfollow You. This is one of the strangest tips that I have received. First of all, who has time for this? And second, I really don’t care who unfollows me. Really. If someone doesn’t like my Tweets, then they SHOULD unfollow me. I am not on Twitter to make sure that everything I say appeals to every single person. I am on Twitter to connect with interesting and like-minded people.

5) Your Tweets Should Always Be Witty, Educational or Profound. Obviously, in the ideal world this would be the case. But, the last time I checked, most people on Twitter are not professional writers, bloggers, and word-smiths. They are just regular people making connections. Of course, you should strive to add value and interact with people. But, don’t worry so much that every Tweet is a witty comedy sketch. Just be yourself and have fun.

Twitter is an amazing and powerful marketing tool. However, besides spamming and other illicit behaviors, there are not many “rules” that you must follow in order to be a part of Twitter.

In my opinion, Twitter is mainly about using common sense.

Learn more about the author, Jessica Swanson.

Posted by Sebastian jones, New York, New York | Dec 16, 2009

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Posted by Lisa J. Jackson, Nashua, New Hampshire | Dec 16, 2009

Good points, Jessica. I schedule tweets in advance, and also try to chat daily for a few minutes with my followers.

I don't auto-follow anyone and I do spend time evaluating my new followers and deciding whether or not I want to follow them. I get enough inappropriate followers that I don't think I'll jump onto the autofollow ship.

I enjoy the List feature that Twitter now has. I can 'list' someone without 'following' them and can change that whenever I want. A great way to keep the contact without having their twits fill up the screen.
Posted by kevin kemper, phoenix, Arizona | Dec 17, 2009

..... created thousands of leads for my small business and produced dozens of sales for my products and services..... ---plz review these numbers. IT would take you weeks to know you had that many leads unless you hired someone to read the twits. Then, your conversion rate is ........weak. PER 10 leads you should be closing 7 deals! IF unsure how to do that, let me know. [if you are into MLM, you need not respond. IF you have a real business I can guide you.
Posted by Ragan Corliss, Lake Oswego, Oregon | Dec 17, 2009

Good writing and I appreciate the short, quick and informative tips. http://www.decdens.com/raganc
Posted by Arden Clise, Seattle, Washington | Dec 17, 2009

Very clear information. I agree that there are many so called twitter experts. No one can be a twitter expert because it's changing and evolving every day. However, there are some best practices.

I am not an avocate of auto follow. By doing that you can't be strategic about who you are following. It's important to have a strategy for who your target audience/client is. Hard to hear their voices if everyone and their brother is in there too.

I do like the idea of being able to schedule some regular tweets with the program you mention. But, I agree, I think it's important to be reading your tweep's tweets and building relationships with them.

I also agree that you need to promote yourself, but the rule should be 80% of your tweets are personal, helpful content, retweets and @replies, the remaining 20% should be about your business, blog articles, events, promotions, etc.

Lots of good food for thought Jessica. Thanks for the article.
Posted by Michael Hartzell, Seattle, Washington | Dec 17, 2009

Jessica, Jessica, Jessica....

I am sad... A person with your obvious talent and perspective could have easily come up with 10. Why did you hold back?

:)

I especially appreciate "then they SHOULD unfollow me"

Fortunately I am Witty, Educational or Profound and my tweetingness is scored at 94 out of 100.

How do I know? I use the free tool at twitter.grader.com.

Ok, I admit it, the personality.grader.com says I am too into myself.

I am now following you. You should know, I save all of my shoestrings before I toss the shoes. Never know when the next marketing idea will need that shoestring!

If you find someone during the Christmas season a little sad and forlorn, this Santa Dance should cheer them up: http://www.michaelhartzell.com/Blog/bid/32385/Guerrilla-Marketing-Meet-My-Family-Dancing

Will have to keep up with you. Can't wait until the next five terrible tips. :)

Mike

Guerrilla Marketing Ideas that Rock!
Posted by Kimberly Dow, Frederick, Maryland | Dec 17, 2009

Jessica, great little article. I haven't joined twitter yet (shocking, i know), but i plan to for 2010, so your advice (or rather un-advice) is truly helpful. A unique angle to give some great tips. When I start tweeting, I'll be sure to look you up!

-Kim Dow, Kalico Design http://www.kalicodesign.com
Posted by Paul Sherland, Wharton, Texas | Dec 18, 2009

Jessica, I enjoyed your article very much. I attended a business Twitter seminar yesterday, but I got some great new perspectives from your post.

To my mind, a relatively new development that's boosting Twitter's relevance is the inclusion of the Twitter stream in Google's search results. There's a "be careful what you say" lesson in there. I Googled myself on Monday and saw my Tweets describing the Army Navy football game on Sunday. Nothing bad, but it was a surprise.

Again, a great article. Thanks!
Posted by Joy Canova, Seattle, Washington | Dec 24, 2009

Great article and conversation.

Learning the art of twitter is certainly a worthy goal - my past English professors would love it how I now strive to be concise!

But, content reigns and one must consider what is worth saying just as strongly as how to say it.

2010 goals here I come.... Improve tweets!