Twitterquette 101, Part 1: Why your tweets turn people OFF!

Twitterquette 101, Part 1: Why your tweets turn people OFF!

By: Dr. Dick

Dr. Dick

If you’re new to Twitterville, welcome to the club. I described it to my wife as “the world’s largest singles bar.” (I’m not sure she liked that description.) I’ve been tweeting just long enough to observe some things and to learn the hard way what some people do and don’t like. So here’s Part 1 of how to behave yourself on Twitter so you don’t get massive “Unfollows” before you start.

First, you want followers. Everybody does. Because Twitter is your way of taking your “message” to the world. You can find like-minded people at search.twitter.com. This feature is actually on your Twitter home page now. When you follow them, many of them will follow you back. You can “autofollow” those who follow you by using tools on sites like tweetlater.com. This site also allows you to AutoDM (Direct Message) those you autofollow back. Warning: some people really don’t like this. It’s one thing to send them a personal DM. It’s another to send them an “autoresponder” type message with a link to your landing page. Many will unfollow you when you include the AutoDM.

Second, let me insert a metaphor that my friend Jimmy Davis uses: Twitter is the “party“; FaceBook (or MySpace) is your “home“; your blog is your “office” or workplace. If you’re trying to use “attraction marketing” (major buzz word these days), you’re blowing it if you constantly tweet commercial messages. I unfollow people who autotweet these things. Nothing wrong with occasionally announcing the topic of your latest blog (as I will do with this one) if it’s a topic of somewhat general interest to your followers. The point is, you probably wouldn’t walk up to somebody in a bar and try to sell them a car. You’d make friends and give them a business card so they could come to the auto dealership the next week. You wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) spring a “business opportunity” on someone you invited to your house for a social occasion. You’d offer to talk to them in your office when you are officially working.

Third, you will almost never persuade other network marketers to join your primary MLM through Twitter. Or through FaceBook. Or even through your blog. (Please re-read what I just said.)

You meet people on Twitter. You invite them into your home on FaceBook and get to know them. You help them meet their goals through your blog. Your blog should always lead to a generic landing page that allows you to capture people who want the type of help you offer (like mine, which shows them how to create leads, earn money from affiliate programs, etc.)

So go out and start to follow others, but not too many at once. Unfollow those who are annoying. Autofollow if you like, but avoid the AutoDMs and the commercial messages. Don’t tweet about trivial things. Nobody cares that you just ate a ham sandwich, except maybe the vegans who will get angry and unfollow you. Trivial tweeters come off like junior high teens who apparently feel the need to incessantly tell their friends the details of their lives.

What should you tweet? Things that are genuinely funny (but not crude – save the dirty jokes for the locker room). Things that are informative and provide value (say, about network marketing, social marketing, attraction marketing, etc.). Things that let people at the “party” see the real YOU.

Stay tuned for Twitterquette, Part 2 – coming soon…

Dr. Dick