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

Here is an instant messaging exchange that I had with a TwiTip reader yesterday.

Reader: “I want to grow my Twitter follower numbers? Can you help me!”
Darren: “Can I ask you a question?”
Reader: “Sure”
Darren: “Why do you want more followers?”
Reader: “Everyone wants more followers don’t they? I want to be more connected and to have more followers.”
Darren: “Let me ask another question – Why are you using Twitter?”
Reader: “I am using Twitter to get more connections. I want to connect with as many people as I can.”
Darren: “But why? What’s the purpose of that?”
Reader: “Because it means I’m a more powerful Twitter user. Tell me, how do I get more followers?”
Darren: “I’m still not sure why you want more followers or why you’re using Twitter?”
Reader: “That doesn’t matter – I just want more followers.”

This conversation went on for another few minutes – I won’t bore you with the details (we went in circles) but I think it illustrates an issue that I see many Twitter users having – they don’t know why they’re using the medium.

I can relate to this. In my own early days of using Twitter I didn’t really know why I was using it either. I saw everyone else doing it and while I was a little skeptical of the medium thought I ’should’ at least give it a go. I had no real outcomes in mind and as a result – it showed in my Tweeting.

My first few days (if not weeks) of using Twitter were unfocussed and scattered. As a result I didn’t really ‘achieve’ much. Sure I found a few followers – but because I didn’t know what I wanted to get out of Twitter I didn’t really get much.

It took me a while – but I slowly realized that I needed to be more focused in my use of Twitter and to work out what outcomes I was hoping for.

Being successful at something is very hard if you don’t know what you want to achieve. It’s much easier to hit your target…. if you know what it is.

What do are you aiming to Achieve with Twitter? What are Your Twitter Goals? – AN EXERCISE

Here’s a simple yet useful exercise.

Grab a pen and paper (or open up a blank text document on your computer) and spend the next 3-4 minutes answering the question of ‘what do I want to achieve with Twitter?’

At this point don’t be realistic – just brainstorm as many things that you’d like to achieve with Twitter as you can. There will be time for being realistic and to refine your list later.

Here are a few suggestions for what you might including in your list:

• I want to build my personal brand
• I want to be seen as an expert in my niche of (insert niche here)
• I want Robert Scoble, Gary Veynerchuk and iJustine to notice me
• I want to drive traffic to my business
• I want to find new readers for my blog
• I want to meet my future wife
• I want to document my passion for (insert favorite hobby here)
• I want to communicate what I’m working on with my workmates
• I want to find friends with similar interests to me

OK – the list could be long and varied. People use Twitter for all kinds of reasons (I’d actually love to see the reasons you come up with in comments below).

Once you’ve got your list spend a few more minutes prioritizing what you come up with. Which are the key reasons for using Twitter?

Try to identify one primary reason and a couple of secondary ones that you’ll focus your use of Twitter upon. I find that if you have too many goals and objectives that things can get fuzzy. Pick 2-3 at most to start with (you can always refine this later).

Note: you might find that some of your objectives clash. For example if you want to use Twitter to ‘find a wife’, document your passion for motor racing and drive traffic to your ‘pet reptiles’ blog – you might want to consider having multiple Twitter accounts for your different objectives.

The key is to have some objectives in mind when starting out with Twitter. Once you have these goals and objectives in mind you are in a much better position to use Twitter effectively.

With these objectives in mind you’ll find that other aspects of using Twitter begin to fall into line.

• what your Tweet about will become clearer
• who you follow and interact with will make more sense
• the type of keywords that you track (using a tool like Monitter) will become obvious
• the way and places that you promote yourself will become more evident
• the decision of whether you broadcast or converse (or do both) will become easier to make
• you’ll make better choices on the types of Twitter tools you need to use
• how often you should tweet will become more obvious

What are your Twitter Goals?

PS: let me finish by saying that having twitter goals need not be a formal thing. You don’t need to sit down and write a list or have strict guidelines for using Twitter. Twitter is a playful and fun medium and there’s lots of room for expressing yourself in many ways – however if you do want to use Twitter to achieve something – it’s good to at least have thought through what your overall objectives are.

There’s no need to over think it – but do at least ponder it for a few minutes. I know when I began to do this Twitter really took off for me as not only a ‘fun’ tool but a ‘useful’ one.

© 2008 TwiTip Twitter Tips.



Defining Twitter Goals: A Tip for Successful Use of Twitter