Little Book of Twitter Etiquette
As a small business owner and mompreneur, no matter where I turn, I am bombarded with emails, webinars, seminars and blog posts on the importance of being on Twitter.
Well, I am on Twitter - Are You?
In addition to having your own business website, writing a blog, managing a Facebook page, and participating in groups on Linked In, Twitter is a fabulous and efficient way to establish a brand, niche, and a following. This is especially true as an emerging brand or service, and would you ever say “no” to a free way to get your name out there? Not only can you connect with others in your vertical, build rapport, and position yourself as a brand expert on Twitter, but it is now speculated that tweets will become integrated into search engines more and more.
I do not hold myself out as a Twitter expert, but after using it fairly effectively for a while, building a following, and taking full advantage of the possibilities of Twitter, I can share my Little Book of Twitter Etiquette. There are thousands of articles on Twitter How-To, but today I thought that I would give my little cheat sheet on Twitter good behavior.
So, you are on Twitter? Right? Now what? Just for you:
Rachel’s Little Book of Twitter Etiquette
- Always give credit where credit is due. If one of your tweeps shares an article they found, and you re-share it, give them credit. Just because they did not write it… they found it and shared it first. This is a fabulous way to establish rapport among your Twitter community.
- If you are Retweeted or Receive a Shout-Out, thank the giving tweep. It does not have to be immediate, but don’t forget to get on twitter and say “thanks.” You could take it one step further and RT one of their posts in return. I especially admire @Rieva Lesonsky for this….it is hard to get more of a small biz twexpert than Rieve, yet she always takes the time to say thanks.
- If you want to share a link with just one person, put it in a Direct Message. Thanks to the fabulous @JohnAguiar, I learned way back in the beginning that tweeting someone with a link is spamming, and does not reflect positively on you. If you want someone to check out your link personally, simply put your link in a DM with a little “would love for you to read this.”
- In my personal opinion, automatic Direct Messages are extremely impersonal. A generated DM signals someone who is not really into engaging, but possibly collecting followers.
- Be authentic and true to your brand. Tweet about what matters to you and to the audience/vertical that you have gathered on Twitter (whether it is 100 followers or 1000’s).
- Another matter of my personal opinion, when doling #FollowFridays or any following recommendation, say a few short words about the person. I do not want to follow someone just because you say to follow them, but let me know why that tweep is a good follow. For example, I would say “#FF @startupnation the place where I turn for info on starting & running a biz.”
There you have it! My quick little guide to being a good tweepie.
Want to learn more? Follow my blogpost on What’s the Deal with Twitter?.…. we are going to examine a new Tweep’s use of #hashtags soon.
July 7th, 2011 at 8:33 am
Rachel.. Thank U for the mention, I Appreciate that
Also great tips for newbies coming Twitter.
You cover all the “need” to know things that will make life much easier on Twitter and help you grow your following and engagement
July 7th, 2011 at 8:51 am
Thanks so much John….we all have to help one another! Rachel
July 8th, 2011 at 10:55 am
Got to this posting from the NAWBO email message. Terrific insights for someone relatively new to Twitter and learning fast. Thanks for sharing!
July 8th, 2011 at 11:03 am
Excellent advice! I’ll be sharing this with my students in the fall. Thanks, Rachel!
July 8th, 2011 at 11:22 am
I got to this article via Nawbo–love their newsletter.
I have not taken the leap yet but this article might help to do just that! None of my friends are tweeps so I’ve been waiting to test drive twitter with someone. It’s time to stop waiting for them and move forward!!!!!
July 8th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Thanks so much for the positive feedback on this post! I think most important is just because we are on the internet, does not mean that we forget our manners.
Robyn and Cathleen - good luck with your learning, join me at @backngroovemom so I can see your progress!
Kathy - hope your students enjoy…what type of class is it?
Dan - For me personally, I think that tweets need to reflect the personality of the biz or the person. This is way more engaging. I think that automatically generated posts have their place, but try adding in a little of your own flavor with a tweet a few times a day. This will help you engage more in your vertical. Rachel
July 8th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
great advice thanks
July 10th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Some great tips..only wish some of these were mandatory especially for the vulgar profanity loaded porno tweets that i get on a regular basis….time to visit the “just unfollow’ page i think
Julie Labes: Baby-Boomer Travel Specialist: The Fun-Loving, Feisty, Fearless, Frisky, Fierce Over 50 Traveler
July 12th, 2011 at 9:32 am
Great tips. Thanks so much. I deal with B2B whose tactics are to tweet and post weekly through automated tools. I keep telling them: engagement, engagement, engagement is not idle chatter - it means conversation, it means, well, engagement.
July 12th, 2011 at 10:15 am
Great post - thank you!
July 12th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Thanks for sharing this information. Personally, I don’t think anyone should be told not to send links in an invite. When you first meet someone, you cannot simply just shove a product or service on their face without getting to know them, so if you can’t do it offline, why do it online.
Once again, I say thanks for the best information you have provide and hope to see more of this great stuffs.
July 12th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
One of these days someone will invent a “slug you back” to send to pushy sales people. I am a newbie to Tweet, but I get slews of those messages in FB. All I now do is just delete them. I’d rather slug them.
Thanks for the spot on info.
July 27th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
I have just recently started my own pet service business and I thought this article was very informative. I had not thought of some of the tips you shared.
Thanks for the info.