How to Be a Social Media Rock star on Twitter in 2 Easy Steps by Paul Haarman?

The goal of this how-to guide is to help you, the reader, become a rock star (literally) on Twitter. What I mean by this is that I will be giving instructions on how to make your posts stand out from others and drive more traffic back to your site.

This document was written using Google Docs; therefore, the following may appear differently if you are not logged in.

1) First Things First: The Basics by Paul Haarman

a) Have at Least One Twitter Account

• This step sounds like common sense but some people want to take shortcuts and try to fool the system into keeping them relevant; don’t be that person…it doesn’t work. You can have as many accounts as you want but do not post from both accounts in the same fashion or you’ll get caught. I suggest having a personal account and a business/band account if you’re going to do it right.

b) Twitter Handles: How to Find’em, How to Keep’em

• Handles are simply your Twitter username for each account. Make them easy to remember but not too crazy that people can’t tell what they are. Mine is @AdamJBishop which makes sense because my name is Adam Bishop, so it’s easy for me to remember where I am supposed to be posting from and who what posts belong to.

c) Keep It Real: Why Backdating Tweets Doesn’t Work…at All

• Backdating will get you nowhere fast, you will get caught at some point and your account can be deleted. The fastest way to get your account suspended is by backdating tweets. It’s not worth taking the chance for a few extra “likes” or retweets, even though it may seem that way at the moment. Similar to TikTok, the more active you are, the better your chances are of achieving your goal.

d) The Life of a Rock Star: Why Hashtags are Key

• Twitter is all about engagement which means timing your tweets strategically. This means creating content that people want to engage with and then strategically placing hashtags within said content so that more people see it and engage with it (via Retweeting, Favoriting, etc.)…and now they’re hooked because everyone loves free stuff! e) Utilize platforms like Stumble Upon, Reddit, etc. to post your content

• Make sure you do not go overboard with posting your content in a spam-like fashion, but at the same time, it doesn’t hurt to get a nice little rotation going on other platforms. You can promote your posts in front of a bigger audience and increase the chances that they will see your tweet because people will Retweet it for you…and if they like it then there is a chance that their friends/followers may like it too which again makes more eyes on your tweets = more traffic. f) Got tools? Use em’

• There are many simple tools like Twitter bot out there that make life much easier when doing social media stuff. An account scheduler is one example of this; rather than having to post manually all the time, you can pre-populate your tweets and have them go out automatically at the times you choose. This leaves you free to do other things like creating more content or engaging with people who have already engaged with you.

2) The Content: What to Tweet

a) Mix It Up: Variety is Key

• As I mentioned before, Twitter is all about engagement which means that people want to see variety in the content that you post. If you just tweet about your blog posts all day every day then people will get bored and stop following you. Try to mix it up by tweeting about other things that are relevant to your niche (but not necessarily promoting your own work all the time).

b) Use Images, Videos, and Other Forms of Multimedia

• This is a great way to break up the monotony of text-only tweets and to help your content stand out. Not everyone has the time or patience to read through long paragraphs of text, but if you have a visual to accompany it then they are much more likely to stick around and check it out.

c) Steal Shamelessly (But Give Credit Where Credit is Due)

• There’s nothing wrong with borrowing ideas from others as long as you give them credit for their work. In fact, I would encourage it! It’s a great way to show that you are engaged in what’s going on in your industry and that you’re not just sitting back and waiting for people to come to you. For example, if someone does a blog post about something relevant to your industry, feel free to use part of their idea as inspiration for one of your own tweets. As per Paul Haarman just make sure you properly reference them and they will appreciate the shout-out…and they just may return the favor!

Conclusion:

I’ve given you the tools, now go out and use them. Just like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. The more you use Twitter and other social media sites (and the better you become at it) the more followers you will amass. So make sure that you are persistent and don’t get discouraged if your first few attempts do not meet with absolute success. Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day!