The First 5 Things to Do When Getting Started on Twitter

For most thingsyou want to accomplish in life, getting started is often the hardest part. Thesame is true for social media. If you are anxious about getting started it iseasy to put off signing up for Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest until tomorrow…or next week… or next month.To help you stopprocrastinating and start achieving your social media goals, here’s a list ofthe first 5 things you should do to get started on Twitter.
·       Develop youridentity.After choosing a username, or as it’s calledon Twitter your “handle,” you’ll want to create a bio that captures the spirit of your business. Keepin mind, more people will find you on Twitter that have no previous knowledgeof who you are or what you do than on any other network. If you had just a fewseconds (or in this case 160 characters) to explain your business to a completestranger, what would you say? That will be your bio.

·       Find the rightpeople to follow
Who you follow on Twitter dictates thetype of content you have access to and the quality of the relationships you canestablish. For this reason, you’ll want to set up some criteria, based on your experience,your industry, and you’re goals. People you want to follow could include:friends, professionals in your industry, other local businesses, colleagues,and even current or potential customers.

·       Send your firsttweet
 It doesn’t have to be anything earthshattering, and you won’t have any followers (yet) to see it, but it will letpeople know you are a real person or business and not a robot or spammer. Makethe tweet something simple; your introduction to the Twitter world.

·       Get the tools youneed
If you want to be successful onTwitter you want to make sure you have the right tools. There are a number oftools out there including three you’ll want to have access to from day one.·       Monitor yourprofile on the go with the Twitter mobile app·       Schedule tweetsand track your reach with Hootsuite·       Stay on top ofyour activity with Nutshell Mail

·       Connect yourtouch points
Sounds simple, but connecting yourwebsite to your Twitter profile will help drive traffic and organically buildyour social following.
Don’t forget to have a plan!
Let’s rewind quickly to the point when you first decided to sign up and logon to Twitter.What were youtrying to accomplish? Were you looking to drive more business? Increase brandawareness? Establish yourself as an expert in your industry?Just being onTwitter won’t be enough to accomplish those goals—even if you follow these stepsto getting started. What will allow you to achieve those goals is having asocial strategy about the way you plan to engage on Twitter, the type ofcontent you want to share, and the milestones you hope to achieve. Your strategyprobably will change once you get started, but by having one before youlaunch your first tweet, you’ll make it much further than these first 5 steps.


Gina Watkins is a leading expert on e-marketing for small business – and has a real passion for helping businesses to succeed. Her ongoing series of dynamic lectures are filled with real-world examples, humor and results-driven wisdom garnered from more than two decades of sales, business development and marketing experience. In addition to owning her own business, she is an award-winning direct marketer, has been featured on WUSA Channel 9's Mind Over Money show, Dr. Gayle Carson’s Women In Business radio show, Morgan State’s Briefcase Radio program, and in numerous other media. In her role as Constant Contact Regional Development Director, she’s presented to more than ten thousand seminar attendees about the keys to success with easy, affordable, highly effective technology tools that grow trusted business relationships.