TomTravel2

People ask me often how I got where I am on Twitter. It has been a long and interesting journey. I was told in no uncertain terms that I had to get on the Twitter by a trusted associate. I created an account and followed a few people I knew and some that were recommended. I really wasn’t getting it for quite a while. It took me several looks to see the value in Twitter. The first great leap for me came with a webinar from @pistachio (Laura Fitton the author of “Twitter for Dummies”). Thus began a search for the meaning of and best practices for using this exciting medium.

I started following people who seemed to know what they were doing on Twitter. I also looked for people who were noted for their success on Twitter. In addition to learning from their tweets, I read their blogs where I learned even more. I also searched off Twitter by googling specific areas within Twitter I wanted to learn about. My interest has always been for what the best way to interest and engage people, and what the best etiquette for use of the medium. At the end of this post you will find some links to many of the blogs I found most helpful, interesting or amusing.

Starting with a very modest presence on Twitter, I began to consciously implement a simple strategy based on what I felt were the best practices based on my studies. Within a few months I had to make some adjustments because what I was doing worked. In the beginning I followed back everyone who followed me. This quickly became unmanageable and filled my tweet stream with spam and mindless self promotion. I started looking carefully at every new follow to see if their tweets were something I wanted to add or not. I came to a twillosophy on following that I have stuck to since.

What will follow is the main rules I tweet by and that I think might be helpful to anyone who wants to create an interesting and meaningful experience on Twitter.

• Engage! Twitter is not a broadcast medium. It is an interaction medium. The key to getting the most out of your use of Twitter is to interact with people. If something interests you, retweet it, as it will probably interest your followers as well. See a thought provoking tweet? Comment on it. Get engaged with the rolling conversation instead of being a passive consumer of tweets. If someone does something nice for you thank them. Common courtesy goes a long way to creating goodwill.
• Fetch! The people you want to interact with and respond to are out there, but until you find them it does no good. Use the people search feature on Twitter to look for people you already know you want to follow. Look for your friends and business associates and follow them as well. You can also search by keyword (I found people looking for many combinations with the word travel for instance. I also periodically search cruise(s), hotel, tour, tourism, cvb, and other associated terms). You can use Twellow to search profiles by keywords and I have found this very useful!
• Add! Try to add something of value with your tweets everyday. I frequently post links to travel news. I also tweet my observations on the business of booking travel. If I see a trend in pricing for instance I try to point this out to my followers. These types of useful tweets are often the most responded to and retweeted things I throw out into the Twitterverse.
• Entertain! I try to make my tweets as entertaining as I can. I rewrite news headlines in a quirky or funny way to get more attention. This also has had the effect of creating an identity for myself as the witty travel tweeter. I also feel tweets that make one think are very entertaining. New or innovative ways of looking at things can also be very entertaining and can make a tweet stand out from the crowd.
• Play Nice! Nothing has helped advance my interests on Twitter more than doing for others. RT are the two most important letters on Twitter. Every time I retweet someone I am creating a sliver of good will that when added up over and over becomes something more. Commenting on tweets can also please people. Giving recommendations to follow on #followfriday or #traveltuesday is another good deed that will serve you well. I also try to acknowledge the good deeds others do for me. Thanks are almost always appreciated on or off Twitter. All of this brings me back to my first point": engage, interact, and get into the mix!

Some Helpful Links to Learn More About Twitter:

http://pistachioconsulting.com/

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/the_thoughtful_user_guide/writing_my_twitter_etiquette_article_14_ways_to_use_twitter_politely.php

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/norman-birnbach/pr-back-talk/10-twitter-etiquette-rules

http://mackcollier.com/five-reasons-why-no-one-likes-you-on-twitter/

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/25/35-twitter-tips-from-35-twitter-users/

http://mashable.com/category/twitter-lists/

http://www.gissisim.com/2009/03/how-to-twitter-like-a-pro/

http://danzarrella.com/the-20-words-and-phrases-that-will-get-you-the-most-retweets.html

http://twitter.pbworks.com/

http://www.randygage.com/blog/tweet-this-a-twitter-manifesto