Hi, this post covers some of the main things you need to do to get up and running on twitter.
I am going to do another post probably in the New Year to show some of the tips and other applications on making the most of twitter
1. It’s easy to get an account set up on twitter – all you need to do is go to www.twitter.com and sign up for an account
2. You
can call yourself either your real name as your user name, or something related
to what you do , or your business name – for instance my full name is Claire
Chapman, but my twitter name is coachclaire.
Think about what you want to call yourself to get maximum benefit from
your name! Also make sure your real name
is available so when people start building connections with you they ca
reference to your real name as well!
3. In
twitter you have following and followers.
Following is when you choose to follow someone, to be able to see their
updates. Follower is who is following
you, and can see your updates.
4. A
message is a tweet. Tweets are limited
to 140 characters – it’s been likened to microblogging. The good news is that you can see how many
characters you are at. Makes you think
more concisely!
5. Updates
are how many times you have tweeted on twitter!
6. On
the twitter page you have a navigation menu that shows home, @replies, direct
messages, favourites, everyone, following.
7. @replies
are messages that are…replies. On
twitter you can reply to anyone, regardless of if they are following you or you
them, with @twittername. So to reply to
me, it would be @coachclaire and then the message you wanted to send.
8. The
@replies shows messages that have been sent to you as a reply to what you have
written to the other person, or that they have replied because they are
interested in what you are saying
9. Direct
messages can be made directly on twitter by using dusername. So to direct message me, it’s
dcoachclaire. Direct messages go to just
you.
10. In
direct messages on twitter there is a tab for your inbox and a tab for direct
messages you have sent, so you can remember who you have been in touch with
11. Favourites
are any updates that you really loved.
You make a favourite when you read a twitter and click on the star on
the side of the tweet
12. Everyone
– does what it says on the tin! It is
everyone who is tweeting. Because
twitter is so immediate and easy to update, on your first screen the history is
likely to not go back that far. Mine
today for instance is showing as less than 5 seconds ago!
13. Following
shows picture profiles of who you are following. You can click on these to be
taken through to their profile. Good to
click on followers of people you are following – good way to find out simply
via twitter who they are following – they may have people interesting to the
work you do
14. On
twitter itself there is an option on the menu at the top of the page to search
people. You can either upload your email
address list or invite by email
15. Twitter settings. Account, password, devices, notices, picture, design
16. Account
shows all the information about you. Basic information you’ll get / be able to
put in here relates to you setting up your account for use:
a. Your
real name
b. Your
twitter user name that gives you your unique twitter URL – mine is www.twitter.com/coachclaire
c. Email
d. What
timezone you are in
e. URL
– it’s a great idea to add either your web or your blog – wherever you want
people to go to find out more about you.
Without this, it’s difficult for people to build up more of a picture of
you and the work that you do
f.
One line bio – 160 characters or less. This is your chance to give people who see
your profile an idea of what it is that you do or stand for. As an example, mine is 
g. Location
– where you are based. Keep yourself safe – only put as much info on here as
you are happy being freely available on the web!
h. What
language you are using – English etc
i.
If you want to protect your updates. If you are using for biz, I advise that you
don’t choose this option – it means no one out there other than people you
invite or allow can see what you are saying!
17. Password
– where you can change your password. Useful to do every so often for a security
check
18. Devices
– this is to set up your mobile. Please
note if you are based in certain places, including the UK you can’t currently
receive updates via your phone due to twitter (being free!) wanting to keep
their costs down. You can set up your
mobile to send out tweets to your twitter account if you are away from home –
costs apply obviously! You can read more
about what numbers you need here https://help.twitter.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=412
19. Notices
– this is where you set what you see – if you want a reminder if you haven’t
updated in 24 hours, what @replies you want to show, and if you want emailing
when you get new followers, direct emails and updates from twitter.
20. Picture
– most people on twitter have a picture for their badge – either of themselves
or of their biz logo. It’s good to have
a picture of yourself to continue to build trust.
21. Design
is what your twitter page looks like. You can either select a theme – the ones
that twitter have, or choose to create your own custom background by uploading
a graphic. I uploaded one I have of my
business logo and this is then tiled – means it is a good reminder to people of
what I do when they see my twitter page
if they are using twitter directly
22. There
are also people who design custom backgrounds for you. One example is (Disclosure - I just won a competition to have my page designed by them!) http://twitterwebs.com/
