Even more Twitter tips

Yes, even more ideas and tips for using Twitter

More and more people are using this service every day. And every day, I'm unfollowing people. Why is that? You'll see below.

We all know that on any social media, our main goal is to add value to our followers.

We also know that it's a great opportunity for promotion and these two goals can easily be combined.

Take a look at the screenshots below and decide for yourself whether they are performing these two functions. Are these users providing useful information and content to their followers?

Equally, are they promoting themselves well or showing their businesses to their best advantage?

Instructions:

1. Remember to keep your messages as short as possible to make it easy for others to pass it on.In this message, we don't need the quote marks or the three periods. 'Click here for more info' can simply be 'info>' and the hotel that's mentioned has it's own name as a Twitter handle.

The message you see here has 108 characters (including spaces but not including the URL). 'Love beyond words - treat mom to a fabulous brunch @RiversideHotel. Info >' has 74.

2. I'd suggest that you always tweet with a purpose.

Unless this person just wants to flatter his friends (and there's nothing wrong with that - from time to time) what is the purpose of this tweet?

In fact, it can have the opposite effect. Am I one of the 'some' who are getting younger every year? I'm sure I'm not. I need botox. Now he's depressed me...

3. Oh dear. I think I've written about this in one of my other Twitter tips articles but nevertheless, it's worth repeating.

I counted. There were many more than the ones I've shown here. Seventeen. I bet you can guess what happened. I unfollowed them.

Lots of people say that cross-posting on social media is one of the most annoying things you can do. If I followed that organisation on Facebook, I'd see their photographs anyway so I don't need to follow them on Twitter too when all they're doing is directing me to Facebook.

What a complex circle - it's easier to just unfollow.

4. When I took this screenshot, I named the file 'helpyourself.jpg'.

I know that it's nice to post interesting links for your followers but think about yourself too.

Often, when you tweet someone else's link, they will thank you - maybe even follow you. But that's no big deal really, is it? (And the BBC won't follow you - I can guarantee it.)

Wouldn't it be better to write a quick blog post containing the link? Entitled 'The BBC wonders what makes businesses British', it can simply be a brief summary of the article. If you like it enough to tweet it, you've read it, so the post will only take minutes.

Plus, anyone clicking on your link will see your branding, your products - you will have helped yourself.

5. Watch out for opportunities.

As you can see here, a great recipe was posted for Cinco de Mayo.For the ten seconds it took to retweet this, with my own recipe included, I might get my recipe retweeted too.

I'm adding value for my own followers because I'm giving them not one but two timely recipes. It's also referring to the person who tweeted it in the first place and he or she will see that in their 'mentions'. Kudos? Clickthrough? A new follower? A retweet? A sale?

Who knows what the result can be?

It'll create some hits but one hit from someone who orders the beautiful Mexican stoneware I have on the recipe page will be perfect, thank you.

6. Being nice is great. And knowing this guy, he probably has everyone's birthday's written down so that he can do this.

But what we're talking about here isn't using the service to chat with friends - we're talking about it to promote our work or business.It really wouldn't hurt to link to an article about birthdays, (especially if he's tweeting birthday wishes to friends on a regular basis) or a link to a local restaurant he's reviewed.

Or even a signature (like email) to his site. Every hit is an opportunity.

7. Anyone who has designed posters knows that all the viewer wants to know is what is it, where is it and when is it?

This tells me that a local restaurant has a delicious Mexican special. I'm interested. When is it available? Lunchtime? Dinnertime? All day? How much is it? Is there a vegetarian option? Is it for today only?

Can I have a link to your blog with details please?

8. It's a good idea not to use hashtags that are commonplace.

As you can see here, there are at least two posts every sixty seconds with the hashtag #holidays.

When the December holidays come around, the chances are that there'll be one per second. Your tweets will get buried in no time. In a previous article, I've mentioned the usage of hashtags that have different meanings in different languages and that applies to this too.

In the States,the word refers mainly to the December holiday season. In British English it means 'vacation' or even 'day off work'.

9. This is an extreme case of point number three above - albeit a little tidier.

I don't follow this local bar to be told that they posted photographs on Facebook.

I follow them because I want to know what their special are, what live entertainment is planned for this week or any special events that are on the horizon.

This tweet adds no value at all to followers.

10. This is a strange one. Both these links go to the same place. Why?

If they wanted to gain the attention of the Twitter user mentioned in the first one, well, that's the point - they had already done that. So why the double post?

What it shows to me is that someone isn't paying attention.This lack of attention bothers me. This business runs restaurants. Do they have the same lack of attention in their kitchens?

It's also not leading to the company's own blog (why not?) and who on earth knows what 'lucky start' means and is compelled to click? Not me...

Let's face it, we owe it to ourselves to learn more about social media and using it to the full. We are living in a period of history that has previously-unknown opportunities for free promotion of our work, business or organisation.

I sometimes wonder how historical entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford would have used the social media we have today.He would have been pioneer, I'm sure.We don't need special skills to make the most of this opportunity. We don't need degrees. If you're reading this, you've already got all the equipment you need. All we need to do is learn.We can be pioneers.