Earlier in the year, I created a list of 16 people to follow on Twitter; if you missed it, you can check it out here.

Now that you know who to follow on Twitter, let’s talk about ways that you can use it to network, promote yourself and your book. I know that Twitter can seem like an overwhelming jumble of conversations, which is why I’ve created the following guidelines to help you understand what types of content to share, how to network, and tools to tweet effectively! 

Getting Started on Twitter

To help you ease your way into Twitter, below I’ve created some general etiquette tips to help you understand how to create a polished profile and put your best foot forward:

• Use a photo of you that looks professional. You can also create a custom background at twitpaper.com or freetwitterdesigner.com to spruce up your profile.
• Share content that is original, useful, and helpful. When you’re crafting tweets, keep in mind that every tweet counts! Your followers don’t need to know when you’re doing the laundry or washing the dishes, so make sure that what you tweet is useful, or you will lose followers.
• That being said: getting personal with your tweets is OK. You want your followers to get to know you, as well as your book. Just keep in mind my advice above, and make sure to share tweets that matter.  If you share tweets that are valuable, Twitter followers will beat a path to your door.
• It’s OK to repeat your tweets. There is a lot of content posted every day, so feel free to repeat some of your more important tweets – it’s very likely that some of your followers may have missed your tweet the first time.

Remember that list of people you should be following on Twitter? Here is where that list comes in handy! Twitter is a fantastic platform to interact with and learn from other experts in your industry. Following and interacting with these users will not only give you some ideas for your own tweets, but it’s also a great way to network and begin building relationships with other writers or professionals.

• Begin the conversation:
  • RT (re-tweet) someone else’s posts.
  • Comment on someone’s interesting Twitter background or clever bio.
  • Comment on something someone else has shared: be it an interesting article, or blog, that’s a great opportunity to discuss your shared interest.
  • Congratulate others when they share good news.
  • Thank someone for RTing your post and thank others for mentioning you on Twitter.  I always think it’s such a huge compliment when someone else takes the time to think of me on Twitter.
• Once you’ve widened your network, pay it forward! Take time to introduce other authors or experts in your field who are also on Twitter.  You never know the connections that can come from a simple introduction.
• On Fridays, recommend your favorite tweeters by using the #followfriday hashtag along with their user names. Make sure you share reasons why you recommend them – it’s a nice way to pay a compliment and introduce your followers to other Twitter users you appreciate.

Armed with my Twitter tips for success, and my list of people to follow on Twitter, go dive right into the conversation!