Now that you’ve set up your Twitter Account it’s time to figure out your next steps. What should you do as a Twitter newbie? Before you start tweeting it’s imperative that you decide why you want to be tweeting. Just like looking at a map to get directions for somewhere new if you don’t take the right roads it could lead you to nowhere.

Reasons To Use Twitter

There is no definitive purpose for using Twitter, each of us has our own goal. Some use twitter for personal use and others for business.

Ask yourself three questions:

1. Is this for business or personal use? Your target will be different and this will help you define the type of person.
2. What type of person am I interested connecting with? Once you define the type of person you want to connect with, you know what to look for in a profile and will have a much greater chance of connecting.
3. How many followers is enough? If you follow a large group of people it can be overwhelming and the quality of interaction will decline. Managing a small group of interactive followers can be fruitful, personal and fulfilling while dealing with a large group can help reach a large audience with less connection.

Some possibilities include all or some of the following reasons:

• to meet new people and have fun
• to connect with your social contacts
• to network, brand and build awareness for your website or business
• to share and learn a specific (or varied) subject

Create Carefully Worded Tweets

Now that you know why you are using Twitter it should help you decide what topics may be relevant for your audience. Here are some thoughts on how to Twitter. Learn a bit about twitter speak and etiquette too.

Careful not to spam. Don’t create a bunch of tweets with links to all your websites. Make sure every tweet isn’t a self promotion. For Pete’s sake, don’t send out a tweet telling people how to get new followers – most of us are tired of these.

On that note, be careful what applications you log into because many of them will automatically create an auto post and tweet it. All is not lost here – simply go to your time line and move the mouse over the garbage can to delete.

Ask Yourself

How many tweets is too much?

Pick a routine and pace yourself, consistency is everything. Like blog postings, people would rather see reliability and consistent information. You want to build trust and relationships in order to enhance your user experience and of course theirs.

It’s Time To Follow People

It’s time to start finding people to follow you. There are a variety of ways you can follow people.  Going to one of the largest directories Twellow, to start following is probably one of the most effective. Take the time to register as well and you will gain followers automatically over time.

Find some people that you already know. Go to your favorite websites and click on the twitter profiles.

Use a geo profile program like Nearby Tweets can help you locate people in your area. This will help increase your chances of having common interests or understanding of culture and even your way of speaking.

Start Chatting – Get Interactive

Okay, the vehicle is in motion now, start driving. Get out there and look at what your new followers are saying. Start responding. Send a few messages. Learn about how to send a reply and direct messages. Find some interesting tools and information to share with people. Share one of your better posts to let people know what you are all about and demonstrate your capacity to help them.

Learn More About the Twitter Interface

Time to start playing a bit with Twitter functions. Start figuring out what #hashtags are all about. Look at the search function and type in a few interesting topics to find out what the pulse of the day is.

Once you’ve played with things for a few days and have a basic understanding of Twitter then it’s time to start building your profile, brand awareness. You will be ready to venture out and start using interesting tools and applications to improve your Twitter experience. One of the first tools you may want to use is a Twitter Client, similar to Outlook as a client for emails, only this time it will help you manage all of your Twitter users and tweets.

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