How I Use Twitter

I've been on Twitter now for almost 6 months and I've been enjoying the experience, although I'm still 'feeling it out' and trying to find the best way to use it. I have to say, I'm still a little unsure.

I guess it's still relatively new and this whole Web 2.0 is still in its infancy.

Here's typically what I do with my tweets:

1.) Normal tweets – everyday things like, 'Just got back from the gym' or 'Getting some ice-cream from Dairy Queen' Do I think people care? Not really, but it's more just to let others know I'm on the system and open to communicating. It also lets people know I'm a human being and not just a company.

2.) Business tweets – my blog is linked via Twitterfeed. Each time I publish a post, a tweet is sent and people can click on the link if they want. Has it helped? I'd have to say, yes. I do get a certain amount of traffic from these tweets.

3.) News tweets – I'll link a story that I come across because it's interesting and fits the theme of this blog … or it's just too hilarious not to share.

4.) Quotes – sometimes I'll come up with some quote about life, goals or money or I'll share a great quote I heard. I haven't done this too much (yet) but may do it more. Why do this? I guess it boils down to letting people know about your philosophy or the way you do business or simply your outlook on life.

5.) Following – I follow EVERYONE back. I think it's great for networking and I feel everyone has something to offer. Thankfully, no one has gotten annoying and you can use programs like Tweetdeck to filter out traffic you don't really want to read.

I don't keep in contact with too many friends on Twitter – I use Facebook and face-to-face communication for that.

I also write some tweets ahead of time - like a quote or something funny - and keep track of when I tweeted it. If my mind is blank like it is on some days, it's great to have a bank of clever tweets on hand for the right moment.

I guess I'm kind of using Twitter to create a brand, in a way … is it working?

The jury is still out on that. I noticed quite a few people unfollowing me in the last month – probably about 40 – so it's made me wonder if my Twitter Strategy is working.

• Am I Tweeting enough?
• Should I do more/less personal tweets?
• How's my Twitter etiquette? I have to admit, I went on a following binge but stopped that pretty quickly.

Anyways, I'll be balancing the above things to see which ultimately works. In the meantime, I'll just focus on enjoying the twitter experience first.

How do you use Twitter? What mistakes have you made? What works best for you?

Photo: jmilles

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