Getting followers

1. Use an avatar image, a picture of a person, you is best
2. Only use a logo as avatar in case your brand is already established
3. Link your homepage in your profile, not LinkedIn or FriendFeed etc.
4. Let employees tweet as real people
5. Do not collect many more people you follow than you got followers
6. Describe yourself in a factual not anecdotal way
7. Tweet mostly in English if you’re from non-English speaking countries and target the global market
8. At the beginning promote your Twitter presence so that you gather at least 5o followers
9. Tweet at least a few times a week, do not lurk
10. Do not pose as someone else, especially not a young attractive females, unless you don’t care

Keeping followers

1. If you’re on Twitter for business, limit the private tweets to a reasonable percentage
2. Use direct message only for person to person conversation, not for broadcasting
3. Link to yourself only occasionally
4. Reply to other people, especially when addressed directly
5. Do not tweet dozens of times per hour, that’s flooding
6. Tweet manually not via automated scripts
7. Post tweets directly to Twitter not via crossposting from elsewhere
8. Vote on social sites for people you follow if you like their links but do not vote down if you dislike
9. Be polite and use informal but not too casual langauge
10. Keep conversations concise or otherwise move to another channel (private message, IM, email)

Getting people to react

1. Ask simple and direct questions
2. Break news stories or be among the first to spread them
3. Cover Twitter both on site and on your blog
4. Mention and socialize with already popular and active Twitter users
5. Tweet link to outstanding resources helpful to others
6. Blog about other tweets you read and elaborate on them or collect a few
7. Be outspoken about negative things that annoy you
8. Create a tool geared towards the Twitter audience
9. Be a human being, that is not only a business robot, mention private things others can relate to, like a cat
10. Give away freebies, or at least report when others do

Using the right tools

1. A Twitter client for the device you mostly use to access Twitter
2. A tool that helps you track the mentions of your name, brand or most important keywords
3. A way to gain quick overview on what’s going on, on Twitter
4. Some WordPress blog integration to connect your online presence to the Twitter community
5. A favorite short URL service with analytics, proper redirects etc.

Filed under: Twitter Optimization | Tagged: Twitter Optimization Tips