One Quick And Easy Way To Improve Your Reach On Twitter

March 19, 2014 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

One Quick And Simple Way To Improve Your Reach On Twitter

In just five minutes a day, you can drastically improve the number of Twitter users you reach.

 

By paying attention to the trends, you can incorporate keywords and hashtags that will get your tweets in front of more eyeballs than just your followers.

In fact, if you’re not tweeting on trend, you’re likely missing out on a excellent chunk of attention from your followers, too – if they’re not online to see your tweet as it is sent, they probably won’t ever see it. Unless it’s tied into a trend they’re following, that is.

To learn what’s trending on Twitter, log in to Twitter.com and find the “Trends” box. This is located at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar. By default, you’ll see trends tailored to you based on your location and who you follow. You can change the trends you see by choosing a new location.

Trends offer up some fantastic insight into what people are tweeting about right now. By joining in, your tweets will be part of a much larger conversation and will be seen by potentially thousands of users. To join a trend, just include the keyword or hashtag in the “Trends” box.

Of course, you only want to participate in trending conversations that are really relevant to your brand. If you notice three topics about Justin Bieber’s latest hijinks, question yourself if you should be tweeting about this before adding your two cents. A bank might really hurt its brand if it hopped on the Justin trend, for instance, while a hip young clothing retailer might benefit.

Looking at the trending topics takes all of 20 seconds, and writing a tweet or two that fits shouldn’t take more than another two minutes.

As long as your tweets add value to the conversation and fit your brand, you should notice more engagement and reach just from this one simple task.

 

Practical Twitter tips for beginners

December 28, 2013 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

Different types of conversations… and who sees them

 

A general default tweet: this is a statement or conversation that everyone can hear.

 

@tweet (or @answer if you responding to a tweet): Imagine this as addressing one person in a group conversation. You start your message with @username e.g. ‘@RichardTaylor_ impressive turnout at today’s open day.’ The message only appears in that user’s timeline. But, followers of you and @RichardTaylor_ will see it and can answer. So in the example, followers of you and Richard will see the conversation.

 

You don’t need to follow someone to @answer them. If you place the @username anywhere else in the tweet other than the start all your followers will see it. This is called an @mention. You may want to do this to give someone public acknowledgement or credit or to promote them or their tweet to your followers .

 

Note the distinction between mentioning someone by name in a tweet and @mentioning them. For example, tweeting ‘Chris Rice in Marketing came across as really dumb in today’s session’ is very different to tweeting ‘@chrisrice in Marketing came across as really dumb in today’s session.’ He will get to see the second version and it’s likely to be considered abusive.

 

Direct message: Imagine this as a whisper to one person. This message starts with d username (note: no @) A person must be following you in order to direct message them.

 

@answers to you: You will see these in your timeline if you follow the person. You can see people who have @mentioned you in the @mentions tab on the Home menu within Twitter.

 

Twitter concepts

 

Retweets: (RT) Retweeting is how Twitter users share fascinating tweets from the people they’re following. They copy and paste the original tweet and send it out. To give credit to the original person, users usually place “RT” plus the originator’s username at the beginning of the tweet. You might also see HT (heard through) and MT (modified tweet) For example: The Twitter user @uniofleicester tweets: ‘Kasabian just announced Leicester homecoming gig at Uni and O2 Academy Sat 23 Oct’. You retweet by posting ‘RT @uniofleicester: Kasabian just announced Leicester homecoming gig at Uni and O2 academy Sat 23 Oct.’ Twitter also has an in build Retweet option now.

 

Hashtags: # Hashtags are a way of flagging up a particular subject so that anyone can see all the tweets on a particular subject by doing a search.  “#XFactor” and “#BBCQT” are well loved ones.  You tweet something like: “Did he REALLY just make that comment?! #BBCQT” and everyone knows you’re referring to something that just happened on Question Time. http://www.hashtags.org is a excellent resource to see if a hashtag is already active before you use it or to see all the tweets on a hashtag.

 

Adding links to your tweets: If you’re using Twitter directly on your PC, just paste the URL into your message. Twitter now automatically shortens the links to 20 characters. If you’re using an app for Twitter (e.g. on your phone) there will be an option to shrink the link. To add pictures to your tweets within Twitter just click on the icon and add the image. If you’re using an app there will be an add picture icon (usually a camera).

 

Asterisks are normally used to EMPHASISE – e.g. “this is *superb* fun”… or to show an action about yourself in the 3rd person- e.g. “*goes off sobbing*

 

Excellent resources

 

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

 

http://pme200.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-use-twitter.html

 

More detailed information taken directly from “The blog that Peter Wrote” (see link above)

 

General vs @Tweets

 

  • There’s a distinction between general tweets & tweets directed at a particular person (@tweets OR @answers if your responding to someone). A general tweet is one you just type and that all your followers will see.  Anyone doing a search for any keyword in that tweet will also see it.

 

  • @tweets, by contrast, start off with the @ symbol plus the name right at the start of the message e.g.  “@HyperbolicGoat Have you eaten many table legs recently?”  This tweet would appear only in HyperbolicGoat’s timeline, and would not show in the timeline of the rest of my followers.

 

  • The exception to 3 is where someone follows both me AND HyperbolicGoat. It enables that “mutual follower” to see the conversation happening between us and join in if s/he wishes.

 

@Mentions

 

  • Sometimes you want to publicise an @tweet to someone and make sure all your followers see it.  You can do this my simply not putting the @ right at the start of the message. e.g. “.@HyperbolicGoat is a lovely person, follow him!”

 

  • Alternatively you could place the name anyway else in the tweet e.g. “I had a fantastic drink this evening with @HyperbolicGoat and @Dancing_Piglet”.

 

  • There are many ways to keep the @ away from the first position in the tweet – “@ or ,@ or .@ all work just as well.

 

  • To see if anyone has referred to you in a tweet like this, you have to go to the “@mentions” section of your timeline.

 

  • Similarly, if someone who you don’t follow has interacted with you, the message will not appear in your timeline because you don’t follow them.  Instead you need to go to the “@mentions” section to see it.

 

  • You cannot use the @ symbol followed by any word or it will appear in the @mentions of the person with that username.  If you write “I wanted to laugh @Oscar” – it would have popped up in the mentions of whichever random person has the name “@Oscar”. What you really should have written is “I wanted to laugh at Oscar” or even “I wanted to laugh @ Oscar” with a space in between.

 

Protected Accounts

 

  • You can protect your tweets so that only your followers can see them.  This will lead to less spam But it makes it less likely you will pick up new followers, as people can’t see what you’re saying.

 

  • If your account is protected, you cannot be retweeted by use of the “retweet” button. People still can retweet you though by copying and pasting your tweet with the letters “RT” at the start of the tweet.

 

  • If your account is protected and you answer to someone who is not following you, they cannot see your tweet.  Even experienced Twitter users frequently don’t realise this.

 

  • If someone Google searches your username your tweets will not appear if you have protected them.  Only if you have allowed them to follow you, will the Google search throw up your timeline (sophisticated and quite impressive, eh?)

If you require any advice on setting up and managing a Twitter account, contact Vic Russell (vlh14) ext. 1244 in the Marketing Communications Office. She can offer advice to beginners, intermediates or advanced users of social media.

http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/cap/marcomms/communications/social/handbook/twitter/practical-twitter-tips-for-beginners

Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks

November 11, 2013 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

Below is a listing of our top 10 favorite Twitter tips and tricks. These tips will help make your Twitter experience more enjoyable and can help increase your followers.

Customize

  • Change your profile picture. Use a picture of yourself to make it seem more personalized if this is your personal Twitter account.
  • Utilize as much of the 160-character limit Twitter BIO space allows. Include keywords your followers or potential followers may be searching for.
  • Make your own background image. But, do not make the image too much like an ad or sales pitch. The background image must be less than 800k and we recommend a size of 1600×1200 for a large image or smaller if you plot on tiling the image or just having it on the left-hand side. Finally, keep in mind that smaller resolutions and monitor sizes will hide much of the background.

Third-party tools

Take advantage of the hundreds of different third-party online tools and services that enhance your Twitter experience. Below are a few of our favorites.

  • TwitPic – Take advantage of TwitPic to post pictures on your tweets. If you want to post pictures while away from the computer, use the Twitterific app.
  • Qwitter – Fantastic service that sends an e-mail any time someone unsubscribes from your Twitter profile and mentions a possible Twitter post you made that may have caused them to leave.
  • Manageflitter – Fantastic site for managing your followers and getting an simple to read overview of people not following you back, silent users, and inactive users.
  • WeFollow – Fantastic website that allows you to add yourself to a listing of Twitter users by tags you find fascinating.
  • SocialOomph – Another fantastic service with a collection of free Twitter tools including the ability to schedule when a tweets gets posted.
  • Tweetbeat – An brilliant site that takes the trending topics on Twitter and gives you a clearer explanation of present and past trending topics.
  • TwitterMeme – Another fantastic location to find the hottest links on Twitter.
  • Twitter Grader – Fantastic service that grades any Twitter account and gives you additional details and ranking information.
  • Twitter Fan Wiki Apps – Finally, this wiki has a listing of several hundred different Twitter applications and tools for users wanting more.

Use Twitter search

Take full advantage of the Twitter search tool. Below are just a few tips that can help improve your search capabilities on Twitter.

  • Search for your website or blog URL and see if others are mentioning your page.
  • Search for anything near you by adding near:”city state”. For example, typing near:”Salt lake city Utah” club would return current tweets that have happened in Salt Lake City, Utah with the keyword club in them.
  • Find people who you may delight in following by searching for keywords that interested you.
  • If you do not want tweets with links add ? -filter:links at the end of your search query.
  • Need more options, use the Advanced Twitter search.
  • Any time you get brilliant results click the “Save this search” button to save that search. These searches can then be found under “Saved Searches” on the right-hand part of your profile on the ancient Twitter interface or under the “Searches” tab next to your timeline on the new Twitter interface.

Followers

  • Engage followers.
  • Do not follow too many people. No one is going to follow someone who is following thousands of people but only has 10 followers.
  • Retweet fascinating posts.
  • Retweet and participate in conversations with people with a lot of followers.
  • Realize it is impossible for anyone to read every tweet.
  • When first joining do not follow hundreds of people, doing this may mark you as a bot.

Make useful and fascinating tweets

  • Try making all your tweets informative, useful, or amusing.
  • Do not post mundane posts, e.g. eating a bowl of cereal.
  • Add hastags to your tweets. For example, if your tweet is about computers, consider adding #computer in the tweet.
  • Tweet frequently. No one is going to follow someone they do not know who has not tweeted in months. Try at the very least to tweet a few times a week or daily if you can manage.
  • Do not whine or complain. Everyone will unfollow anyone who constantly whines or complains.
  • Try making your valuable tweets during the times people will most likely see them.
  • Keep some space available in your tweet in case someone retweets your post.
  • Use special characters in your tweets.

Know the lingo

Know the Twitter lingo, these are just a few examples: @answer, Direct Message (DM), Follower, Hashtag, Retweet (RT), Trending Topics, and Tweet. See the Twitter description for a full listing of Twitter terms and Lingo and related terms.

Follow the masters

Following a few of the masters of Twitter and Social Networking will give you an understanding of how to tweet better, posts to RT, and inspiration for tweets of your own. Below are the top ten Twitters we recommend following.

@GuyKawasaki
@Scobleizer
@jeffbullas
@briansolis
@tonyrobbins
@kevinrose
@timoreilly
@donttrythis
@zappos
@brainpicker

  • Twitaholic – A full listing of the top users on Twitter based on Followers. This is a terrific service to find and follow the top users and possibly incorporate some of the thoughts they are doing on their account.

Tip: Many of the first few hundred people are celebrities on Twitaholic, if they do not interest you skip the first page.

Make and use lists

Twitter list iconTwitter lists are an brilliant method of filtering filter through the people you follow. To make a list, click the Lists link and then Make a list. After making a list visit the persons profile page you wish to add and click the list icon, as shown in the picture to the right. Our Computers and Tech list is an example of a public list we made.

Go Mobile

Apple iPhones, Blackberry phones, Android phones, Windows phone 7 phones, and most of the other smart phones have Twitter applications. Take full advantage of these applications. For users who do not have smart phones Twitter also has extensive support for SMS, which can send tweets over a text message.

Advertise

  • Mention your Twitter page as many places as you can, e.g. your business card, e-mail signatures, web page, blog, Facebook, etc.
  • Make a tweet button or at least your Twitter name on your pages, similar to the below examples.
  • Make a Twitter profile widget on your blog or website.

 

Follow us @Computerhope

By:  www.computerhope.com

Tech Tips: Getting Started with Twitter

November 11, 2013 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

With Twitter in the news because of a public stock offering, you might be deciding it’s finally time to start tweeting.

But what exactly is Twitter, a tweet and the etiquette for using the well loved communication tool?

Here are the basics. Keep in mind that the company’s service isn’t expected to change in the small term after it starts trading publicly Thursday. Twitter Inc. is pricing its initial public offering of stock at $26, valuing the company at more than $18 billion. It’s the most-anticipated IPO since Facebook went public last year.

To start your presence on Twitter, you first need an account, which is free. Go to Twitter.com or its mobile app to make one. Pick a username, or handle, which is how people will refer to you. Try to find something unique that tells the world a small bit about you. I like to travel, so I picked (at)GlobeTrotScott as my handle.

Once the account is set up, just click in the box that says “Compose new Tweet…” and type whatever is on your mind, up to 140 characters. On the mobile app, look for the small box with the feather to compose your tweet.

But Twitter isn’t just about broadcasting what you had for lunch – though you can do that. It’s about learning what other people are up to. You can start following other people by using the “find friends” feature. You can also search for various celebrities, news sites or whatever else might catch your interest.

You don’t have to know somebody to follow that person. Just click the small follow button. It’s very voyeuristic.

This is probably a excellent point to talk about privacy. There really isn’t any on Twitter. Unless you lock your account, anyone can follow you and see what you have tweeted. And those you follow know that you are following them. (As for locking your account, you can do that by checking “Protect my Tweets” in the settings, but that defeats the point of Twitter, which is to give you an audience for your musings, whether brilliant or inane.)

There are a few ways to engage in a conversation on Twitter.

The first is to just mention somebody in a tweet. Just precede the Twitter handle with the “at” symbol. For instance: “It was nice to catch up with (at)GlobeTrotScott today.” If you want to be fancy, throw in a reference to the bar you were at: “It was nice to catch up with (at)GlobeTrotScott today over drinks and snacks (at)TheSpottedPig.”

If you mention me in a tweet, I will see it on the (at)Connect tab of Twitter.com or the (at) tab on the mobile app.

You can then answer to the tweet. The person who tweeted and anyone else mentioned in it will see the message in their feeds. But remember: Although it is just aimed at them, anyone on Twitter can see that message.

You can also retweet a message, often referred to as RT. This is a way to share something somebody else posted on Twitter with all of your followers. If you hit the “Retweet” button, it will just repeat the message to your followers. You can also write “RT,” copy the person’s handle and the message. Feel free to add your own thoughts before the RT to show why you thought it was worth sharing.

Finally, there is a way to send a private tweet – known as a direct message, or DM – to somebody following you. The simplest way to do it is to go to that person’s profile summary. On the pull down menu next to “following,” there is an option to send a direct message. You can also just start a tweet with “d” and then a person’s handle, and it will send a direct message. You want to make sure you do this right: Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress after sending a sexually suggestive message that he thought was private. It wasn’t.

As you start following more and more people, it might be hard to keep up with all their tweets. Enter TweetDeck and HootSuite. Their websites and apps let you customize your Twitter feeds to sort through all the noise. You can make a stream of tweets from your friends, another from news sources, another for sports and another from celebrities. Separate work from fun.

A few other key points. When adding a link to a tweet, first shorten it through a site such as bit.ly. That way your tweet won’t go over the 140 characters, and it will look cleaner, too. You can also add a photo to your tweet by clicking on the small camera icon. A link to the image will then be added to your message. But remember, that link takes up precious characters, so keep the message small.

Finally, let’s talk about hashtags. They are meant to bring together several tweets on the same topic. So at the end of baseball season, you might see many tweets including (hash)WorldSeries or on Thanksgiving you might see (hash)TurkeyDay (hash)Thankful (hash)Sleepy. Yes, people do tend to string hashtags together.

Just don’t do too many. It’s looked down upon and then your tweet will (hash)Fail.

By AP / Scott Mayerowitz; Nov. 07, 2013

Spell Check Twitter Widget

May 14, 2011 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

Many people seem to not care whether or not they spell correctly when using Twitter, but for many people this is a pet peeve. Spelling is very vital to a lot of people, and until now there was no simple way to spell check your Tweets. The new Spell Check Twitter Widget will now let you post with no misspellings directly from your website. All you need to do is copy and paste the HTML code onto your site by selecting the “Get Code to Embed” button.

This new widget has many cool features. While typing, the spell checker works so that you can see and right words as you go. Words that are incorrect are underlined in red; right-clicking the word brings up a list of selections that you can choose from. If your word is not listed, just make the correction yourself.

Other brilliant features are the ability to check all 140 characters at once, support for 16 different languages, and customization by changing the size, default language, or color of the widget. There is also an indicator which tells you how many characters you have typed. Once done with your Tweet, a green arrow lets you know that all words are spelled correctly. Finally, the widget is very small in size; it is only 156 Kb fully installed. It is also compatible with nearly all well loved browsers.

So, if you are sick of making errors in your Tweets that you do not catch, be sure to get the Spell Check Twitter Widget.

No more misspellings ever!

Submitted by:  Helen Iarmolchuk

Six Benefits to Using Twitter.com Instead of an App

January 1, 2011 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

Six Benefits to Using Twitter.com Instead of an App

There are often comparisons between various Twitter apps and discussions about which is better; but, there are several benefits to using Twitter.com without using an app at all.

One benefit to using Twitter.com is the ability to send and receive Tweets more quickly. Apps can only retrieve messages in intervals so there is usually at least a small delay in receiving messages. Users of Twitter.com can send and receive instantly without having to wait.

Another perk to using the website is that there is no limit to the number of times you can Tweet. Apps have API limits which restrict how many times data can be retrieved per hour. That limit has been decreased recently which makes it more likely a user will see an “API limit reached” message when using a Twitter app.

A third perk to using the Twitter website is the ability to use the new Retweet functionality. This functionality allows users to directly send a Tweet with the click of one button. Many apps don’t contain this functionality and won’t allow users to see Tweets that have been sent with this method.

The ability to see special hashtag functionality is yet another benefit to using Twitter.com. On special occasions, Twitter will sometimes enable special functionality that will appear when a specific hashtag is used. For example, using the hashtag #WorldCup during the World Cup made a soccer ball icon appear in the Tweet. This was only visible to users of Twitter.com.

A fifth advantage for Twitter.com users is being able to view the customized backgrounds of other users. Many individuals and businesses customize the backgrounds for their Twitter account which can give you vital contact information as well as other details about the user. Many users reckon carefully about their background image but app users are unable to see this image from within their app.

One last bonus for users of Twitter.com is being able to view information more easily. This has always been right but it is especially right now that Twitter.com has been updated. Users can now easily view trending topics, see which friends are recommended to them and have simple access to list functionality. Some app users will be able to see the same information but it may be located in a few different places within the app.

Although many Twitter apps contain functionality that Twitter.com doesn’t, there are many benefits to using the site that are often overlooked. These benefits should be considered when trying to choose which Twitter tools to use.

Shannon Albert

@shannonalbert
Techie girl, like alt comedy, indie films, top 40 music, travel, my 2 kids & husband.

5 Ways to Use Twitter to Become a Happier Person

December 26, 2010 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

A lot of people see me, you and others “Tweet” and wonder why they should get involved. I am questioned this question at least once per week. Twitter is a fantastic, fantastic platform that we can all use to make a huge difference in our lives if use it well. Here are some ways that I use Twitter to help me that you can use, too, and become a much more pleased person.

1. Tweet to help people that you wouldn’t otherwise reach.

Be intentional about sharing wisdom and lessons you’ve learned in life. You might do this in concert with a blog or not, but either way, you’ll feel better knowing that there is someone out there benefiting from something you’ve learned. They might be on the other side of the planet, but they’ll appreciate knowing someone else has gone through what they’re experiencing.

2. Tweet your goals and allow people to provide accountability.

I like to Tweet about things with which I need help or encouragement. Twitter can give you the powerful benefit of positive peer pressure. For example, when you have plotted to workout or skip the buffet today, tell people about it. There will usually be a number of people who will answer with encouragements and even tips to help you with your challenge. It also helps you to know that people are going to be expecting results from you.

3. Tweet to direct people to your business and generate sales.

This is an simple one so I won’t dwell on it. But, after you start building a following, you’ll learn that a number of people will simply want to know what you do for a living. Just tell them. They may have been looking for you all along. They already know and trust you now, so building trust to lead to a sale won’t be as necessary.

4. Tweet to wind down.

Tweeting when you’re pissed off, frustrated or otherwise needing to rant is a fantastic thing – just watch some of your language – and it can be a lot less destructive than putting your fist through a wall or yelling at your spouse. Tweets live forever, so keep it clean. It’s well known that it’s better to let it out rather than keep it in, so use all caps if you need to do so!

5. Make friends.

I believe that we are who we spend time with. I’ve been intentional to seek out and follow and interact with people who are going where I want to go in life. In your regular life, it might be hard to find people who make barcode art. Twitter allows you to expand your reach. Surely there are other people around the globe with your interests – no matter how obscure.

I have done all of the above. I have found that using Twitter throughout my day and my week really ENHANCES my week by increasing my focus on productivity. This is in contrast to other social networking sites that often require a lot more energy of me than I get back in benefits.

Get to Tweeting! Tweeting with purpose can benefit you a lot!

Hulk Hogan (Fake) tells his story on Twitter

August 12, 2010 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

To place a bow on today’s fake Hulk Hogan Twitter tale, the person originally claiming to be Hogan is now claiming to be a disgruntled TNA wrestler.

TNA president Dixie Carter acknowledged the tale this afternoon after Eric Bischoff shot down the claims that Hogan and Bischoff are leaving TNA. “Recent Twitter of Hulk Hogan
leaving TNA is bogus. To what extreme people will go,” Carter said on Twitter.

The person who impersonated Hogan on Twitter will have people believing he could be a TNA wrestler, as the person has made several points critical of TNA management that reflects the mood in some circles of the TNA locker room.

We reported over the weekend that 10-15 wrestlers were considering their options of staying with TNA, feeling out the rumored Wilpon Family promotion, or pursuing WWE options. The person claiming to be a TNA wrestler acknowledged the rumored promotion and claimed some wrestlers are considering leaving TNA if management doesn’t “admit to mistakes.”

Even if the person turns out to be just a fan impersonating a TNA wrestler after impersonating Hogan, the person will have people in TNA trying to track down where the Tweets are coming from based on the comments being made today.

Caldwell’s Analysis: Quite the bizarre tale today. I’m leaning toward doubting that a TNA wrestler would go to these lengths to get a so-called message out, but it remains to be seen. The whole tale was made even more bizarre by Bubba the Like Sponge and Eric Bischoff linking to the fake Hogan account before this went down.

Luxury Brands Online

June 10, 2010 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

Mosnar Communications a leading luxury PR firm and luxury brand blog announced today that influence of luxury experts on Twitter can be resourceful for luxury brands online. Citing that established Twitter profiles Tweeting about luxury related subjects can help luxury brands build credibility online.

CR Cataunya Ransom, lead publicist for Mosnar Communications says luxury brands can benefit
from forming strategic brand relationships with luxury experts on Twitter. Ransom stresses that many luxury brands still don’t know how to engage in social media environments and can use the expertise of those respected online for delivering luxury communications. She reveals that her firm uses their specialized Twitter profiles to target, engage, market, and promote luxury brands. Which in return Ransom feels allows the individual Twitter profiles owned by luxury brands to gain credibility.

“We have invested heavily over the last two years in Tweets that engage and target luxury audiences,” stated CR Cataunya Ransom.

Using Topsy.com luxury brands are able to search for Twitter experts that have influence on specific subject matters. Topsy ranks Ransom’s Mosnar Communications (@MosnarComm) in the top percent for expert Tweets about luxury which their algorithmic approach view the profile influential.

13 Ways To Get Your Blog Posts Retweeted

June 10, 2010 by  
Filed under Twitter Basic Tips

What’s the huge deal about getting retweeted? If you have a ton of followers who are engaged, and you’re pleased, then why should you care if they retweet your junk?

If you’re using Twitter for business reasons, you should care. And here’s why:

1. Measure Engagement

Retweets are an indication of how engaged your followers are. If they aren’t retweeting any of your posts, chances are they don’t find them that fascinating.
2. Follower Attrition

Some of the folks who are singing your praises now will be gone in six months. That’s because you can’t be all things to all people all the time (and you shouldn’t being trying to). People grow, they change and have different needs as time goes on. New people who follow you because of a retweet they saw will take their place. It’s not personal, it’s just business.
3. Measure Content

Getting retweeted is partially a function of excellent content. Or at least excellent headlines. 😉

How To Get Retweeted

1. Be Relevant – A survey conducted by Dan Zarrella found that people share content because they thought it was relevant for someone they know. In other words, try and stay relevant to topics your followers want to hear about.
2. Write Pithy Headlines – On Twitter all we have is 140 characters. How would someone like Shel Silverstein tweet?
3. Include links – Dan also found that retweets tend to have more links. 56.69% of retweets contain a link versus 18.96% of normal tweets.
4. Add your own thoughts – One huge limitation with Twitter’s retweets is that you can’t edit the tweet before retweeting. Tools like Seesmic and Tweetie give users a second option of “quoting” the tweet where you can edit it to your liking.
5. Break News – Be the first to share breaking news on a topic. Know beforehand what might be newsworthy before it trends by making a Google or Tweetbeep alert.
6. Not About You – Dan also found that talking about the color of your underwear won’t get retweeted as much as talking about the color of Madonna’s underwear.
7. Nurture Community – People that make trust with their community tend to be retweeted more than those who lack any connection to their followers. Don’t forget the really simple mind map I showed you yesterday to frame community development.
8. DM a Retweet request – You can also send a private message asking for a retweet. This has to be used sparingly or you’ll quickly drain your social equity account. Also, make it simple and DM a link to the tweet you’d like retweeted.
9. Use your iPhone – The Retweet app lists the top retweets. Retweeting the valuable posts sparingly will increase your exposure to new users.
10. Embed Retweets – Place a “ClickToTweet” link in your email newsletters and particular blog pages. Read “How To Get More Email Subscribers With Embeded Retweets“ for more info.
11. Timing – Dan also found that 4:00PM is the when the most retweets happen. Especially on a Friday.
12. Say Please – Dan also found that saying please also increased the likelihood that someone would retweet your post.
13. Say Thank You – People like to be acknowledged when they retweet your post. Plus it’s just polite.

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