How to Use Twitter Like an Entrepreneur

When it comes to Twitter, do your tweets soar like eagles or tank like turkeys?

For all its simplicity, Twitter still seems to mystify a lot of entrepreneurs who want to use it to promote their businesses.

So what separates the excellent tweets from the duds? Amazing content above anything else, but remember these guidelines if you’d like to take your tweeting to the next level:

Think – Take more time to write your tweet than it takes to read your tweet. Choose your words carefully. Be clear. Be concise. Twitter is Haiku.

Tease – Your tweet doesn’t have to tell the whole story. Your tweet’s mission is to get your reader to want more. Your tweet should read like a flashy, attention-grabbing headline.

Link – Once you’ve grabbed your reader’s attention, provide a link to your website or blog or wherever it is they need to go so you can seal the deal. Use an URL-shortener like ow.ly or tinyurl or bit.ly to save on characters (valuable real estate!). Use trackable URLs to go a step further and see how well your tweets are performing.

Brand – Never forget your brand. When you tweet, remember why you are tweeting and who you are tweeting to. Tweet with purpose. Tweet for your desired audience. Concentrate on attracting quality followers, not quantity.

Don’t Sell – Be interesting. Be helpful. Be fun. Keep promotional tweets to less than 20%  (10% if you’re awesome).

Engage – Ask, answer, share, thank, comment, joke and chat. Don’t take the “social” out of “social media.”

Hashtag – Let’s stop making fun of hashtags. When used properly, they really work. Research which hashtags will bring you desired hits. Don’t go overboard: two or three at a time are great.

Looks Matter – We are visual creatures. Attach a photo or graphic  to your tweet and it will stand out.  If you’re lousy at graphic design, Canva supplies amazing templates you can use, often for free!

Length Matters – Twitter gives you 140 characters to play with. Should you use all your characters? Ideally, no. Leave some space for other tweeters to add comments and mentions when they retweet or quote you; it will encourage sharing and conversation.

Timing Matters – When you tweet is as important as what you tweet. Twitter is “live” in that people usually just spend a few minutes here and there online and catch whatever is on their feed at that moment. So be strategic. Take time zones into account. Know your desired audience and keep track of when you get the most engagement. You may want to use a scheduling app like HootSuite to schedule your tweets.

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