Twitter can be intimidating to newbies. Even if you are comfortable with marketing, business and other social networks such as Facebook or Instagram, there is something about Twitter that is hard to grasp for some folks.

Get Twitter, Get Social!

However, we found that even for folks who struggle with social media overall, once they “get twitter,” they usually “get social!”

Twitter is one of the most powerful platforms to help you connect with a wide variety of people from all over the globe. Twitter by far has been one of the most powerful platforms to help us grow our business since venturing out to be an entrepreneur a few short years ago! Twitter has ignited the return on investment both personally and professionally for our time spent using the social networks.

We work with organizations of all sizes, big and small. I have coached many business leaders and executives on how to build their Twitter persona and how to use Twitter and other social networks for business.

One of the top questions I receive from business and marketing leaders of all shapes and sizes when hopping on Twitter is, “what do I tweet about?”

One of the most important things to understand about Twitter and any social network for that matter, is that they are all different. Each social network has it's own ecosystem, norms and ways of doing things. Each has its own language, tone, and feeling.

What works on Facebook or Google+ won't necessary work on Twitter. I am not a believer in setting every Facebook post to auto tweet on Twitter. I rarely click on links that are sent from a lazy marketer obviously linking back to Facebook. It's much better if you take the time to engage on Twitter versus auto spamming every post from every network to your Twitter page.

Creating your Twitter Persona – Authenticity vs Transparency

The easiest way to solve the “what do I tweet about” problem is to create your online and Twitter persona. It's important to understand the difference between transparency and authenticity.

You don't have to share what you eat for lunch every day to be authentic. How much you share with who is transparency. Ensuring that you are being YOU is authenticity. Read -> Do I Have to Share What I Ate For Lunch on Social Media? Authenticity vs Transparency

If you struggle with what to tweet about, I suggest you download this handy Twitter persona worksheet and this social audience analysis worksheet. They will help you set goals and objectives that align with your audience needs. The Twitter persona worksheet will help you identify content to share that will be relevant and provide value to your audience.

Remember, your top goal in using the social networks is to figure out where your audience is hanging out online and learn how to have the most relevant conversation with them possible that helps them meet their business and life goals.

17 Tips to Rock Twitter Like a Boss and Develop Your Own Twitter Persona

1. Know YOU! Know your audience. Know yourself. Know your audience and what you can and need to offer them that provides the highest value possible. Download this audience analysis worksheet. Read and watch video-> 10 Things You Must Know About Your Audience

2. Set goals and objectives. Without a plan you will likely not get very far and will never know when you get there. Don't know where to start? Check out our “Social Media Consultation in a Nutshell”
Read and watch video-> Quit Trying to DO Social Media, Focus on Business Results

3. Be you. There is only one you so be that person. Be that brand, period.

4. Be human. Think, act and talk like a human. Treat the people in your communities like human beings. Read-> 22 Tips to Humanize Your Brand Using Twitter

5. It's not about you. Do not spam links and content about yourself and your business all day. Try the 80/20 rule. Keep to only 20% of content being about yourself. The other 80% should include simple conversation, sharing other sources of content and helping your audience solve their problems.

6. Share the best content from your industry, including competitors. A great way to have success on Twitter is to be a curator of killer content from other sources. Don't be afraid to share the best content from your best competitor.

7. Think value. Think context. Think relevancy with every single tweet.

8. Create a content marketing plan that is bigger than Twitter or Facebook. Download this content marketing editorial calendar to help you build an integrated content editorial calendar to ensure a healthy pulse of content for your audience the entire year.

9. Use the Twitter Persona worksheet to help identify content you can share from your favorite business leaders, authors, and celebrities. Download the Twitter Persona Worksheet now.

10. Earn trust. Focus on earning trust with every tweet. Be a person and a brand that others want to trust and know. Read-> Social Trust Factor – 10 Steps to Establish Credibility Online

11. Don't over complicate it. The better you know your audience, set goals and plan the easier it will be.

12. Try tweeting some quotes. Identify your favorite authors. People love being inspired and sharing quotes. Did you know that quotes are the #1 retweeted content on Twitter? Simply add the hashtag #quotes, to the end of your tweet. We have organically attracted some amazing customers from one simple quote tweeted. Check out 44 of my favorite entrepreneur and leadership quotes.

13. Quit worrying about your influence scores such as Klout and Kred. When you do the right things on the social networks such as provide value to your audience and target customers, the scores will increase organically.

14. Quality over quantity. Don't be intimidated by not having hundreds or thousands of Twitter followers. Instead focus on providing value to each and every follow you earn. Read-> 75 Things I Learned on My Journey to 100,000 Twitter Followers

15. Balance art and science. Don't get too hung up on the shiny new Twitter tool. Instead, focus first on building your own brand, persona and serving the needs of your audience. Your audience won't care so much about how perfect everything is if you are providing them value.

16. Focus on consistency. Having a consistent and memorable brand across social platforms is essential to success. This includes not only look and feel, colors, but most importantly tone, language and overall engagement strategies. Read-> 10 Tips to Build a Consistent, Memorable, Trusted Social Brand

17. Give your audience what they want. At the core of everything you do on Twitter and every social network always be thinking about what your audience needs and wants from you. Inspire them to connect with you with a goal of helping them achieve their objectives. When you help them achieve their objectives, you organically achieve yours. Inspire – Connect – Achieve! Trust me, this works!

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