After a few speaking oppotunites this last month I have been amazed with TWO things…#1 The hunger in God’s Church to see change #2 How few are taking advantage of the power of social media. Your message is IMPORTANT and social media is the best voice out there right now. I have provided a few tips for starters and let’s get our message out there!
1. Set up your profile
The first thing you need to do is to set up that profile. See that bar on top of your twitter page? Click Settings and start filling up your profile. The notable areas in here are URL, bio, picture and design. Put up a link to your site or blog in here along with a brief description. Upload a picture to differentiate yourself from the others and then tweak your Twitter design. Like any other social networking site, it is important to completely express what you are or what you stand for in your profile.
2. Follow people with your interests
Now that you have a profile, start following people. You can find these people in Twitter directories. I use Twellow, WeFollow and JustTweetIt. These sites can introduce you to Twitter users that have the same interest as yours. Follow these people and observe their tweets. You may also try following who these people follow but read up their descriptions and visit their blogs to make sure you’re still on the right niche. Being on the right niche will make it easy for you to build a community with a similar interest.
3. Get into the conversation
So now that you are following people, you will now see some tweets on your board. Read up on what the people your following are up to and reply if it interests you. For example, a person narrates how he is going to conduct a meeting. You may then reply with ideas. When someone asks a question, don’t hesitate to answer if you know it. Don’t be afraid to interact.
4. Don’t spam!!
Spam is the cause of many unfollows on Twitter. There is a character limit for a reason. Do not send repeated messages to people. Do not constantly direct message (DM) them with links.
5. Update daily
Alright so you’re blending in the community. Now update daily. I know some Twitter users who unfollow because of inactivity. Reply to people and update people with what’s going on with your life and mission. Soon you’ll be recognized and you’ll get some follows.
6. Find the latest buzz and contribute
Now it’s your time to contribute. Find a topic that will interest your niche and tweet it. Since you have established relationships with your followers (through replies), you will get more attention.. There will be some people who will be so interested that they will retweet. There are others who will reply to you about the link you tweeted. But you are not a “nobody” anymore. You are not just talking to yourself. People are now responding to your tweets.
7. Help other people out
The famous saying “Do unto others what you want others to do unto you” holds here. Before you can receive retweets, you must help others first by retweeting their messages. Help the people in your niche. One day you’ll be surprised on how eager they are to help you back.
8. Create relationships
Now it’s time to create constant connections. Soon you will find that some users are more active than others. You will get to talk with the same group of people at the same time every night. But don’t get bored. Interact with these people and create relationships. Ask how they are doing and try to touch on their interests.
9. Integrate Twitter with other social networks
Have a blog? Then post to Twitter when you have a post that will interest your niche. Have a Facebook profile? Then ask people to add you. Twitter is really a vital part of web 2.0. It can serve as the core. It can let you build relationships that can branch out to other social networks.
10. Share VALUE
6 tweets should be your daily minimum and you please share something of VALUE. I don’t enjoy tweets about your upset Mexican tummy or sleep updates, communicate things that might make a difference.
Looking forward to your tweet and getting your message out there.
Dwayne says,
Very good points indeed! I try to post through the whole day but many times something comes up but even as an online ministry at the time, since Lisa began re-tweeting our blogs to others we have almost tripled in numbers when it comes to how many people visit the ministry blog. It is all for the glory of God and it is all because of God. The blog that was posted last week concerning BNC has already came close to 500 views. Is that not amazing!!! We have an awesome God!!! Thank you Jesus!
on 23 September 2010 / 8:58 AM