You Might be a Twitter Beginner if You Make these Mistakes

Look, I’m no @chrisbrogan when it comes to Twitter followers, but I have a nice following (@juntajoe). At this point, I still take the time to individually review who follows me. During this process, it pains me to see the many Twitter “beginner” mistakes that turn me off from following a person back.

So, you might be a Twitter Beginner if you make these mistakes (think of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You Might Be a Redneck” when you read this).

1. If you don’t fully complete your Twitter profile.

I probably see about 1/3 of Twitter accounts that don’t complete their profile.

First, enter your name. Your real name.  Are you mjp4833 or are you Mary Johnson?

Second, enter your website that best represents who you are.

Third, enter your bio that tells your interests, or the type of things you tweet about. Mine is “Evangelist for content marketing. Helping companies learn how to be publishers.”

Fourth, enter your location. Personally, I’m tired of the GPS location.  Do you have a home?

This all may seem really obvious to you, but I’m amazed the number of people that don’t complete it. Without a complete profile, your inexperience shows. Be sure to come out of the gates like you know something, but you were just late because you were stuck in traffic.

2. If you keep the default o_O image and don’t change to a more professional picture.

Click on Settings, Picture.  Make it a good one.

3. If you follow 500 people before posting something somewhat intelligent.

Does “is chilling on the carpet” attract the kind of conversations you are looking for?

4. If you follow too many people too fast.

Be careful here.  The new people you follow might think you are a spammer.

5. If you don’t watch your ratios.

Keep your following/followers ratio as close as possible. FYI, if you have MORE followers than you are following, it shows me that you are picky about who you follow.  Some might disagree, but I like that and usually follow those people back.

6. If you use auto direct messages.

I know that many experienced Twitter users will disagree with me on this. Some people set up an automatic direct message function that goes to all followers, telling them to sign up for something or that they are looking forward to following me.  I cannot stand that.  Too impersonal.

Direct messages are fine, but make it personal. (btw, I used to use Auto DM’s at first too…then I learned better.)

For more on beginners, check out this article on best practices for Twitter beginners.  Also, check out this Greg Verdino post “If Twitter Were a State, It Would Be Arkansas“. Greg includes some excellent data on Twitter newbies. Interesting story as well.

Let’s add to this list.  If you have more, send them to me and I’ll add them to the list.

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