7 Tips on Being a Good Twitterer

I have been using Twitter now for many months and I must say that I love it, in order to appreciate that love you must use Twitter in the correct way. Here are 7 tips on how to become a better Twitterer.

There is something special about Twitter that no other social media system has yet captured. It is the brevity and simplicity of Twitter that really makes it work. It is fast, easy to use and you can get responses from people instantly. It is possible to meet people on Twitter that you would never have a chance to meet in real life and converse with them. I have tweeted with TV personalities, politicians, business people and sports stars. Twitter opens up new opportunities as well as providing fun for all.

In order to get the most from your tweets these are my 7 tips.

1. Use Social Chit Chat. Answer the Twitter question “What are you doing?” In addition take an interest in what other people are doing. Don’t try and sell a product or shout at people from the rooftops. Simply interact in the same manner that you might do at a social gathering where you are getting to know people for the first time or catch up on news with those that you have met before. Be friendly and show a genuine interest in people that you chat with. Be a good listener as well as say things about yourself. There is no need to get too personal in the details that you give out in fact it is wise to be security conscious.
2. Share. When you find interesting items that you can tweet or re-tweet do so. Place a web link so that people can easily  find the point that you found interesting. Share photos using Twitpic, share videos through Vidly, and share popular links through Tweetmeme. You may just tweet a positive thought, one of life’s sayings, a happy or sad moment or describe something interesting you have just seen. Whatever interesting thing it is share it.
3. Answer Questions & Help People. Be willing to give your help and support when you can to fellow tweeters. You will gain a reputation as someone to follow and will build trust in the Twitter Sphere.You can show yourself to be an expert in a particular field of knowledge as well as a decent person to follow. There are also great directories for you to add yourself: We Follow, or Twibes.
4. Be Committed. You must really want to interact with people and use Twitter to the full. You will not be successful if you are half hearted.
5. Be Consistent. You should schedule time each day to send tweets and to reply to messages sent to you. This could be 10 or 15 minutes or several hours, the choice is yours but whatever you do be consistent. Don’t have gaps of days or weeks between tweeting. If you are really very busy simply spend a minute or two on those days that you are very busy rather than do nothing at all. You can even tweet saying that you are very busy and will reply to messages very soon.
6. Be Interesting. Make tweets that others will find interesting. You will not be able to appeal to every single follower but by having a variety of tweets that are interesting you will find that followers will stick with you even if some of the tweets you make are not specifically of interest to them. Plus make your background appealing: TwitBacks or Twitter Backgrounds Gallery.
7. Be Interested in Others. Twitter is all about interaction. Show a genuine interest in others. Read as many tweets as your time allows and respond where you can. It could be a note of congratulations for something they have achieved or ask how they are following an illness. Re-tweeting also shows that you appreciated something they wrote and this all engenders mutual respect.

When you follow these tips you will find that you will build a rapport with many people and will start to see good results from the work that you put in. Let me know if you have anything to add or feedback, enjoy!