19 Twitter Tips From Tom Peters

You know Tom Peters? The guy who writes all those best-selling business books?

I’ve been following him on Twitter for a few months and, as they say, you learn for the best. I’ve looked at how he uses Twitter and try to blend that into the approach I use. And it seems to work.

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Do’s And Don’ts For Using Twitter

Twitter is about publishing.

Twitter is about writing.

And it’s about having fun, making connections and sharing things.

Here are some ways I use Twitter and some ways I don’t!

I’ve made a focused effort to use Twitter a little more strategically since May as it tied in with some other business aims. And it’s started to work.

Don’t …

1. Thank me for following you. I don’t read DMs as I get over one hundred and fifty every day and it’s just not possible.
2. Get angry with me for not thanking you for following me.
3. Send me get rich quick schemes or introduce me to ‘Natasha.’ I’m fine thanks 🙂
4. Tweet every mundane details of your everyday life. Some is fine but I don’t need a running commentary of your daily life. No one does! No, really, they don’t.
5. Tweet embarrassing (for me to read) private details of your significant relationships. And your partner may not want it in the twittersphere either.
6. Moan, especially about Microsoft Word. You try and build a better office suite and see how far you get.
7. Start flame wars with people in twitter. They’re out there, just ignore them.

Do

1. Use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck so you can track by keyword, monitor things, and share information quicker
2. Create lists like this http://twitter.com/ivanwalsh/thoughtleadership and follow all of these wonderful technical writers as they tweet.
3. Follow other lists like this http://twitter.com/tom_peters/cool-friends from @tom_peters
4. Retweet others tweets. This is the fastest way – by far – to increase your number of followers
5. Tweet things that are interesting. Such as… pictures, articles, websites, news items, exhibitions, shows, tutorials. You get the idea.  Share, share, share
6. Help others. Reach out to those who ask questions and see if you can point them in the right direction.
7. Tweet your own blog posts. I’m still amazed that so many business writers write so little. C’mon, folks get a blog like these guys.
8. Share quotes, sayings, and interesting thoughts.
9. Share jokes and humorous items. We all need a laugh during the day. I use Twitter at short breaks and catch up with friends. If you share something funny, I’ll pass it on to them.
10. Re-write tweets to make them more interesting. You’re a writer, go on, give it a go! Think of it as a challenge. How can I make this tweet more interesting?
11. Add hashtags like this #techcomms. But don’t go overboard. One is fine.
12. Track your Twitter stats on http://twittercounter.com/compare/ihearttechdocs/month/followers. This is my list. See how it’s grown in the past 30 days.

Write, re-tweet and be interesting.

What else?