Advice to a new tweeter

http://twitter.com/nlnorton, whom I met just as she was about to open a Twitter account.

Today her account is open, and she emailed to get my Twitter ID: http://twitter.com/gcotharn.  My reply included tips about Twitter:

When someone follows you, if you wish: follow them back, then send them a private direct Twitter message like this:

Thank you for following me. I am following you back. I write for the Dallas Conservative Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-3502-Dallas-Conservative-Examiner

 
Some tips:

1.  Download Tweetdeck.  EVERYONE on Twitter uses it.  (it will draw some RAM, and maybe REM)


2.  To get a sense of how to use Twitter to market whatever you wish to market in future, follow these guys and notice how they market:

https://twitter.com/gapingvoid   this is Hugh Macleod.  He does Marketing for Dell and for other concerns, and is artistic cutting edge re social media, et al

https://twitter.com/guykawasaki  this guy is famous.  Used to work at Apple.  Is at forefront of marketing and networking via Twitter.  (Added in:  Guy Kawasaki has a couple of clued in and shrewd assistants do some tweeting for him.  His strategy:  provide value via excellent/informative tweets, then readers will happily allow you to market to them.)


3.  There are TONS of conservatives on Twitter, from Karl Rove to Newt Gingrich to Patrick Ruffini to RWSparkle to everybody in between and all around.  Conservatives are going Tweet crazy.  After you have Tweetdeck, you can begin following as many as you want via compartmentalizing the tweeters you follow.  Start Tweetdeck columns for #SGP (Smart Girl Politics) and #tcot (top conservatives on twitter) and see what is happening there for a while.  When you get a sense of it, you can delete the columns if you wish.


4. Read Here's Whats Rising From the Grave of Traditional PR, then follow Penelope Trunk's blog and tweets.


5.  Having said all this, remember that virtually all tweets deserve to be ignored.  You have a life, separate from reading tweets.  But you are smart to be there on Twitter, and to get a sense of how people use Twitter to help further their goals, and to use Twitter as your own tool to help a bit with your own goals in future.


Tips I did not think about in the email:

6. Put a link to your website or your Dallas Conservative Examiner column in your Twitter bio/description. When someone is making a quick  decision about whether or not to follow you, they do look to your bio and your website.


7. Use your real name in your Twitter account. Make it easy for friends and others to find you.


8. Having your very own Twitter shirt will totally help you with the opposite sex. And during job interviews.

Last:  I most recently tweeted The Bloggess' remarks about a rainbow shooting out of her left boob.  Great intro to my tweeting, I'm sure.  Juuust perfect.  







btw:  this is my blog:  http://theendzone.blogspot.com   God knows what's on there lately.  Sheesh. Next time you see me you can run away, fast.  I will understand. 

That ended the email. When someone is looking at your tweets for the first time, or at your blog, maybe it's best if you don't link to any quotes from The Bloggess, as Jenny the Bloggess loves scatology with a zest rarely encountered irl. Video Sample  Some favorite parts:

"This is my "confidence wig."

"... and the dentist assistant had to come out and change out my gauze in the parking lot while I acted like a total idiot. And I'm still vomiting out the window, and I'm like: this is exactly like college but with more dental assistants."

"So I sat there thinking that [my husband] was never going to be able to shoot that leprechaun, cause those things are fricken nimble."

Jenny is kinda the middle class white girl's unpolished Richard Pryor, if Richard Pryor's father was a taxidermist in a small town.