In this post Claire Chapman (follow her at @coachclaire) shares some reflections upon the ways that she’s been using Twitter to Connect, Share and Be.

I followed @chrisbrogan theme of 3 key words this year – connect, share and be and have been using these to create a clearer focus in all the work I do, including the marketing of my coaching business working with other coaches.

So, how can you use your annual themes or goals to relate to what you are doing on twitter? To share some of my goals I can talk about how I have been connecting, sharing and being on twitter and plan to continue to act in 2009.

Connecting

With a goal of connecting, twitter is a perfect environment. I loved a definition I heard the other day of twitter as “microsharing” (see theme 2 as well!). Because I know I actively want to be connecting with people, it helps me remember that getting the most out of twitter is not just “pile them high” with numbers but creating a sense of community and value. And for me, I’ve actively sought out other coaches via twittersearch to find out who is talking about coaching and coaching related terms – I also use the search columns in my tweetdeck for this.

So that gets me knowing who is out there talking about stuff I am interested in. It’s then taking this to the next level. Just as you wouldn’t get to know someone if you never did more than be in the same room with them, I’ve only really started connecting with people on twitter when I’ve taken action or when they have – I’ve written a personal @reply or DM to them to start the conversation and made it relevant to what they are posting. And that’s often started some tweets leading to deeper levels of connection –moving to a more chatty format to deepen the relationship further – phone, email, mastermind groups etc

Sharing

Sharing is a perfect goal for twitter – the concept of microblogging supports the detailed chat and conversation of small updates regularly given. And what I do here is try not to be a tweetyawn – I don’t want to be the person that is like that guy at the staff party who only talks to you about work – so I try to be authentically me, mix it up with what I am doing personally, helping others out, retweeting and sharing ways to do things better. And I do definitely focus on the work side as well – I just do it (and increasingly more so) with that sense of balance. And thinking about whether what I am sharing is going to be valuable to my community. I like that you can use information such as tweetstats to see what the balance of your conversations is @replies to your personal updates – helps me think about what I am sharing and who to.

Being

And the being isn’t really an overt thing, it’s more just about being me. Being authentic. Not spending too much time on twitter and forgetting how to achieve my goals in other ways. Sharing with others how to be in this time of challenge and following others such as @zen_habits who are sharing their own way to do this.

So now you have seen how I have translated my 3 key themes from this year into how I approach networking on twitter, I hope it will give you food for thought on how you align your tweeting with the way you work and who you are, in order to connect with likeminded people. So from the way I have shared my tips here, you’ve got some resources to help you focus on what you’d like to use twitter for and how this fits with other marketing and conversations you have about your business.

3 questions I’ll leave you with:

• How are you being authentically you on twitter?
• Who do you want to connect with and make part of your network in 2009?
• What will help you take that first step towards connecting with them?

Go do it and have fun!

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Connect, Share, Be: Translating your annual theme to the way you use Twitter for Networking

Did you just take the big leap and open your first Twitter account? Is it for work, business, or pleasure?

A few months ago I joined Twitter, primarily as a way to network, but also to help people, and as a way to promote Train for Humanity and my small business.

When you start using Twitter for the first time it can feel a bit overwhelming, almost like entering a really crowded train station during rush hour on a Friday afternoon. There are lots of conversations and commotion going on everywhere, but you are in the station by yourself, an outsider, and certainly not a participant.

Of course, I went through the usual routine that I assume most newbies go through. I started following some names and faces that I recognized from around the web and I also added some of my early adopter, real life (i.e. non-internet) friends.

However, I quickly realized that if I was going to make the most of this new tool then at some point I would need to know who the thought leaders and trust agents were and begin to follow them. Perhaps, even more importantly, I was going to have to engage in tweet conversation with them.

Where do you begin?

Twitter can be an amazing networking tool, nevertheless, the problem most people face when they first sign up is they don’t necessarily know who they should be following or where they should look to find the leaders (Tweaders?).

Additionally, the thought of connecting with the major Twitter players can be semi-intimidating at first, but even to this day, I am consistently amazed at how accessible people on twitter are. (Even those users with over 20,000 followers.)

To help make your transition into Twitter a bit more welcoming, below I have listed ten people that all Twitter beginners should be following.

The individuals on this list have not been statistically quantified as the most influential, however, they all have large followings and the messages that they tweet are typically filled with value.

In no particular order, they are as follows:

1. Guy Kawasaki: @guykawasaki – Twitter Bio Online magazine editor.
2. Jeff Pulver: @jeffpulver – Twitter Bio Technology Anthropologist”; Entrepreneur; Early-Stage Seed Investor; speaker, Living in Social Media.
3. Chris Brogan: @chrisbrogan – Twitter Bio Social media type, but love the emerging enterprise tech space, too.
4. Liz Strauss: @lizstrauss – Twitter Bio Social Web Strategist – I show businesses & universities how to choose and use social media tools to make business growth faster and easier.
5. Jim Long: @newmediajim – Twitter Bio New media soul trapped in an old media body.
6. Brian Solis: @briansolis – Twitter Bio http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Solis
7. Laura Fitton: @Pistachio – Twitter Bio Much excitement and geekiness about where this all leads.
8. Steve Rubel: @steverubel – Twitter Bio (from website) Exploring how emerging technologies are revolutionizing marketing communications.
9. Robert Scoble: @scobleizer – Twitter Bio Tech geek blogger @ http://scobleizer.com.
10. Gary Vaynerchuk: @garyvee – Twitter Bio I do this: http://tv.winelibrary.com and I care about this: The health and happiness of my Family and Friends. Keep it simple!

As an added BONUS, you probably ought to follow Darren Rowse @ProBlogger, too!

What do you think? Do you agree that beginners should follow the ten people listed above? Feel free to add your beginner “must follow” recommendations in the comments.

Update from Darren – the many comments below inspired me to issue a challenge – Construct Your Own Top 10 Must Follow List as it Relates to Your own Niche. Looking forward to seeing your lists!

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Ten People All Twitter Beginners Should be Following

Since Twitter’s focus is on saying a lot with very little, it makes sense that the Twitter profile space is very brief and the default settings leave little room to present yourself in detail. It’s also the first and last thing potential followers will see before deciding to click “Follow” or to click away from your profile. Here’s a few tips to customize your profile so that potential followers will be convinced they can’t miss your Tweets!

1. Create a Custom Profile Page Background

Since the visual impact of your Twitter background is the strongest tool you have available, customize it to give people an eyeful of who you are.

You can make your own image on your computer and upload it under Settings – Design – Change Background Image. The first 200-250 pixels width on the left hand side is a great place to put additional profile information and list websites.

For a quick solution, you can create just the sidebar (250×700) as your background image with “no tile” selected. Then, modify the rest of the Twitter color scheme to complement it. You can use the first 200 pixels from the top for your picture or “header” for a possible logo and tagline.

The rest of the 400-500 vertical pixels should be used to tell others what you’re about and most importantly, what you’re looking for. Are you using Twitter to get business? To gather ideas for a project? To get feedback from customers? This is the best place to reflect your interests and other facets of your professional life if necessary, so that others can see it immediately.

Alternatively, you can use it to tell people how best to contact you like @garyvee who encourages people to email him instead of sending a Direct Message on Twitter.

Still not sure about the dimensions? You can use Browser Shots to see what it will look like on different screen sizes and browsers.

For an in-depth look at how to create a custom Twitter background, read the Twitip article – Make a Good Impression with a Custom Twitter Background.

Also check out these resources on Background images”

• Boinblog provides two different Photoshop templates to download, or you can create your own!
• Several templates for free at TwitterBacks

Other interesting uses of Twitter backgrounds:

2. Create a Twitter Landing Page as your “Web”URL

@pistachio had a great tip for this months ago when she created a “Twitter landing page” instead of sending users to the front page of your website. Advertisers create custom landing pages for different markets, so why not treat your Twitter audience differently, too? You can create one that explains to potential followers how you use Twitter and how to interact with you.

Some things you may want to include on your Twitter landing page:

- who you are / an abbreviated intro with a link to your more detailed About page, if available

- how you use Twitter (including frequency of Tweets, topics and if you use Twitter to tweet your new blog posts)

- your “follow” policy and how others should contact you if they want you to follow them back (with a “@user hello,” for example).

See Laura’s (@pistachio’s) Twitter Landing Page (Who is @pistachio?) as an example of this.

3. Use a Profile Picture that Reinforces Your Brand (You!)

Keeping your profile pictures consistent across all your social networks will help people find you and recognize you online as well as offline. A picture of you with a hat obstructing your face or you in your Halloween costume should probably be swapped out for a picture that looks like you almost all of the time. A hard-to-recognize picture may result in users squinting at it and clicking away instead of clicking “Follow.”

Of course, using a photo of your face may not be the only way to be “recognizable”:

@photomatt Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of Wordpress, has a profile picture which is simple a bright pink square. It’s certainly recognizable in a Twitter lineup, but unless you’re on magazine covers like he is, you’ll want to use your picture as a way for people to identify you and to create a visual and hopefully emotional connection with your Tweets even if they haven’t met you in-person.

If your company has a memorable logo (and you have the permission to display it) you may consider using it to increase brand recognition. Note that this is best when the content of your Tweets is close to your company’s mission/communication strategy.

4. Utilize your Profile “Bio” to your Best Advantage.

Be clever, be witty, or just be yourself! In a few words, sum up who you are and make it sound interesting. Since that’s what Twitter is all about, writing an intriguing Bio in such a small space shouldn’t be hard. Here’s also another opportunity point your audience somewhere. If you are going to point users to a site that is not your website or Twitter landing page, I recommend putting it here so that users see the entire URL instead of in your Web link which gets cut off. Transparency is always best.

@jowyang uses his Bio to give a brief explanation of who he is and points those interested to an article he wrote “How I use Twitter.”

5. Break up any @ Reply Marathons with Useful Tweets

If your potential follower is still on your profile page, and they’re not yet convinced about following you, they are going to check what you’ve been tweeting recently. Hopefully, they won’t see a sea of @ replies, which might insinuate that you spend a lot of time in micro-conversations that they may be left out of if they follow you.

I recommend breaking up any @ reply marathons with some useful, wide-audience tweets, share links or re-tweet a fellow Twitterer’s useful link.

For more on @replies ettiquette, read the Twitip article Twitter as Dinner Conversation: A Guide to Using Replies.

How would you personalize your Twitter profile to encourage newcomers to follow you?

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



6 Tips for Using Your Twitter Profile to Get New Followers