IQ Matrix Maps

How to Twitter: A Beginner’s Guide

Posted on May 5, 2009 in: IQ Matrix Maps, Online Success

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Introduction

What if you could gain instant celebrity status? What if you could attract tens of thousands of Followers in a few short weeks or months? What if you could influence others and change the World with only 140 characters of text sent from a computer or mobile? What if your every action, thought and whim was broadcast to the public live 24 hours per day 7 days a week? What if you could connect effortlessly with like-minded individuals instantly from all over the world? Just think of the possibilities… And what if dogs knew how to Twitter? There would obviously be no barking up the wrong tree

The How to Twitter Mind Map provides beginners with an introduction to Twitter and helps clarify how Twitter can be effectively utilized as a business and personal branding tool.

This post is part of the Online Success Series of blog posts (more will be added in the future). Several months ago the first Mind Map of this series was created entitled StumbleUpon Traffic Rush. Although it hasn’t as yet been published at the IQ Matrix Blog, it is still however available from the IQ Matrix Shop as a Premium downloadable Mind Map, and is a great starting point for beginners who would like to familiarize themselves with the StumbleUpon service. The Mind Map was built upon Caroline Middlebrook’s Traffic Rush Home Study Course. Please visit the Traffic Rush website for more information.

Getting back to the Twitter Mind Map, here is a break-down of each of the branches of this IQ Matrix:

• The 1st Branch of this IQ Matrix Mind Map introduces Twitter and provides some examples of the way Twitter is being utilized by others, and concludes by discussing several benefits of using Twitter for branding your personal services or products.

• The 2nd Branch of this IQ Matrix Mind Map analyzes the type of content that can be published to Twitter, and discusses how this content should be structured and worded for greatest impact. Additionally this branch breaks-down how Twitter can be monetized to earn you a little extra pocket change.

• The final Branch of this IQ Matrix Mind Map delves into Twitter Branding and provides you with several guiding principles that will enable you to establish a strong and influential Twitter presence.

Keep reading for a more in-depth explanation of each Branch of this IQ Matrix Mind Map. And don’t forget to download this FREE Mind Map at the IQ Matrix Shop.

Before we get into it, please bear in mind that I am no Twitter expert. All the information contained within this blog post and the accompanying Mind Map has been gathered from a great number of valuable articles and resources written by those who have a lot more knowledge in this area than I do. To acknowledge these Blogger’s expertise and analysis, I have included a chronological list of links to their articles at the conclusion of this post.

Follow IQ Matrix on Twitter

Introduction to Twitter

The 1st Branch of this IQ Matrix Mind Map introduces Twitter and provides some examples of the way Twitter is being utilized by others, and concludes by discussing several benefits of using Twitter for branding your personal services or products.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is an online service that enables you to send short messages of 140 characters or less from your PC or mobile phone to your Friends and Followers. It is in essence a Social Broadcasting service that allows for instant communication with others around the world.

What Questions Does Twitter Answer?

The Twitter service answers the following questions:

What are you doing?

What are you sharing?

What are you thinking?

What has your attention?

Business Uses for Twitter

Twitter is a social tool that can be utilized for a number of business purposes. Here is a list of ways that businesses utilize Twitter on a daily basis:

• To promote services, special offers and joint ventures.
• To send out alerts of new product releases, newsletters and blog posts.
• To provide interesting and helpful links and tips.
• To improve customer relations and interaction.
• To broadcast directly from live events.
• To make money.
• To generate traffic to their website.

Productivity Uses for Twitter

Twitter is also a great tool that can help you boost your productivity throughout the day. Here is a list of ways that Twitter can be used to this effect:

• Managing To Do Lists.
• As a research tool.
• For collecting news, notes and ideas about topics of interest through the Twitter’s Search Service.

Interactive Uses for Twitter

Primarily Twitter is an interactive tool that enables you to communicate instantly with others from around the world. Here are some examples of how Twitter can be utilized to this effect:

• Group communication and instant collaboration.
• Creating contests.
• Conducting surveys and polls.
• General networking.
• Asking questions or gaining feedback about specific topics.

Benefits of Twitter

Utilizing Twitter on a regular basis has several short and long-term benefits that can be just as valuable as other social networks.

• Increases your credibility.
• Increases your expertise.
• Increases your social reach.
• Provides you with unique insights into your industry.
• Provides inspiration.
• Grows and enhances your brand through exposure and awareness.

Writing Great Twitter Content

The 2nd Branch of this IQ Matrix Mind Map analyzes the type of content that can be published to Twitter, and discusses how this content should be structured and worded for greatest impact. Additionally this branch breaks-down how Twitter can be monetized to earn you a little extra pocket change.

Type of Content to Share on Twitter

There is effectively no limit to the type of content that you can share with your Friends and Followers on Twitter. However, as with any social service, here are some guidelines that will help you to make a positive impact on the Twitter Community:

• Share inspiring quotes, metaphors and stories.
• Share what you are using, watching, listening to, thinking and reading.
• Share useful ideas, images and news stories.
• Share links to services, products, events, blogs and websites.
• Only share quality resources and content.
• Share content that adds value to your Followers.

Additionally when sharing your 140 character Tweets with others it is important that you are considerate, personal, original, promotional, interactive, interesting, informative and fun. All of these highly valued Twitter Traits will help expand your credibility, expertise and influence online.

The Fundamentals of Great Content

Here are some additional suggestions and guidelines that will help you to become a better and more influential Twitterer:

• When writing you must provide you Followers with a Call to Action.
• Target Key Words that are commonly searched for.
• Be clear, concise, simple and valuable.
• Tweet something that will automatically catch the eye of your Followers and Friends.

Over time Twitter users have taken on board a number of Twitter shortcuts and additional services that enhance the Twitter experience, and make content creation a little more fun and interactive. Here is a break-down of some of these additions (please see the links section further down this article post for more resources):

• Utilize shorthand codes to Twitter “more with less”.
• Utilize @sign to acknowledge or communicate directly with others.
• Utilize #hashtags to categorize your Tweets and make them easier to find.
• Utilize URL shortening services such as Twurl, Bit.ly and Tinyurl to shorten your hyperlinks.
• Utilize TwitPic and TwitrPix to insert links to images directly into your Tweets.

Monetizing Twitter Content

If done correctly and somewhat carefully, Twitter can be monetized and turned into a cash making machine. However, you must be very careful not to overdo things. Anything worthwhile is always best done in moderation. Here are 4 ways that this can be achieved:

Providing Time Sensitive Affiliate Links

Every once in a while provide your followers with time sensitive Affiliate Links and other promotions that they can take advantage of.

Providing Money Saving Opportunities

If you sell your own products and services, than offer your Followers discounts and time sensitive money saving opportunities that they can take advantage of – available only to them.

Arranging Sponsorship Deals with Businesses

When you are confident that you have enough avid and enthusiastic Followers, you can arrange a sponsorship deal with another business, where they will send an automatic Tweet to your Followers at specific intervals – advertising their products and services for a price (providing you with a little extra pocket change). There are several services such as Be a Magpie and Twittad that can get you started.

Guidelines for Branding on Twitter

The final Branch of this IQ Matrix Mind Map delves into Twitter Branding and provides you with several guiding principles that will enable you to establish a strong and influential Twitter presence.

How to Brand on Twitter

Here are some suggestions of how to go about Branding yourself or your business on Twitter:

Choose Personal or Company Brand

Before you setup an account on Twitter you must decide whether you would like to brand it under your company or personal name. You could effectively setup two accounts that focus on different Twitter Marketing Strategies.

Select Twitter Marketing Niche

Here you must decide what target market you will be focusing on, and clarify how they will benefit from your Twits, links, pictures, and thoughts.

Select Your Twitter Strategy

Decide on the Twitter strategy you will pursue. Here are a few things to consider:

• Who is your niche target market?
• What type of content do they expect you to provide them with?
• How often will you publish this content?
• How will you go about providing value to your Followers?
• Will your content include photos, links, etc?
• How will your Twitter Strategy differentiate you from others within your specific niche?
• How will you go about earning money through Twitter?

These are only some of the questions you should be asking yourself before jumping head-first into Twitter.

Create a Twitter Profile

There are essentially 2 ways to go about this. You can either modify your Twitter profile page in a way that it seamlessly integrates with your website (which is the strategy that has been chosen for IQ Matrix on Twitter). Or you can include a branded Avatar, name, and background image presenting links to your website and your Unique Selling Proposition. Either way can work if done correctly.

Follow People within Your Industry

Don’t just follow anyone. Instead follow people within your niche specific industry who share similar content and information with their Followers and Friends. In this way you will always be in the loop and know exactly what is happening within your topic of focus.

Tweet Consistently

By Tweeting regularly (daily) you are showing others that they can rely on you to provide them with high value content on a consistent basis.

Tweet at Peak Times

Tweeting at Peak Times will help gain you a higher density of Re-tweets (RT) throughout the day, which will likewise generate you more clicks, exposure and potential traffic to your website.

Peak times obviously vary depending on the market you are targeting. Usually the hours between 9 to 5 pm Monday to Thursday are the best times for Twittering. However, keep in mind your Time Zone and the Time Zone of your target market.

Be Helpful to Others within Your Niche

Help others within your niche, and they will be more likely to help you when you need assistance in the future.

Encourage Participation with Your Brand

Run competitions, surveys, and ask questions of your Followers and Friends that get them involved with your brand in some way.

Showcase Your Contributions to the Community

Community contribution may include offline or online ventures.

Inform your Followers what you are doing to enhance and add value to your niche market and how they will benefit as a result.

Showcase Your Expertise & Knowledge

Twitter is an opportunity for you to showcase what you know, what you can do, and how others will benefit as a result.

Keep in mind that Twitter is only a means to an end that you must utilize effectively to drive traffic to your website, blog and sales pages.

Showcase Future Blog Posts & Product Releases

Inform your Followers and Friends of upcoming product releases and blog posts you will be writing about. In this way you create anticipation and excitement around your brand and online services.

How NOT to Brand on Twitter

Here are some suggestions of how NOT to go about Branding yourself or your business on Twitter:

Don’t Follow Everyone

There are two schools of thought here. The 1st School of Thought says that you should Follow as many others as possible. In this way you will gain a greater amount of exposure for your blog or website. This may indeed be true to a certain extent, however how many of those who follow you do you think actually care about your content? And likewise this could also be true from your perspective if you are following many people.

Additionally there are only a certain amount of Tweets you can possibly read throughout your day. If you are following 15,000 Twitterers, than you are most likely receiving tens of thousands of Tweets every 24 hours. How productive could you potentially be if you read every tweet and click on several hundred links per hour?

I see it every single day. I come across a Twitterer who has 10,000 Followers, and I think “Wow they are popular and must be an expert within their niche”. However, I look at their “Following” count and they have 12,500 people they are following. Does someone with a Following to Follower ratio such as this have actual influence within their specific niche? Or are they just trying to follow everyone they come across in order to generate one time visitors to their website?

The 2nd School of Thought says that you must keep your Follower to Following ratio down as much as possible. In this way you will be seen as having credibility within your niche market and industry. For instance if I visit someone’s Twitter Profile and I notice that they are Following 500 Twitterers while at the same time they are being followed by 15,000, than this immediately informs me that this is a person of influence who has credibility within their industry.

You could of course argue that if your content and Tweets are of an exceptional nature that you could win over many avid fans to your blog or website by Following thousands of Twitterers. And I do believe that this could work. So the strategy you choose from here on in, is completely up to you.

IQ Matrix on Twitter has chosen the 2nd School of Thought strategy by not Following everyone that Follows IQ Matrix. Instead IQ Matrix only follows people within the Mind Map industry or thought leaders within other industries. Could this strategy change in the future? Yes it could, depending on the need and circumstances. Flexibility is always the key.

Don’t Oversell

Don’t oversell you products or services to your Followers, otherwise they will become Quitters. You should effectively balance your Twitter content appropriately by providing enough Free Value mixed in with a marketing message pitching your products and services every so often.

Don’t Reply to Every @ Tweet

When you start replying to every @ Tweet, than you are effectively flooding your Twitter Stream with potentially irrelevant messages that will put off other Followers. At times it may be appropriate to reply to @ Tweets when they are relevant to others as well. However, in most cases it’s probably more appropriate to simply reply to this person through Twitter’s private message facility.

Don’t Curse or Spam

There is nothing worse than cursing uncontrollably on Twitter or Spamming others with your sales pitch.

Don’t Update Excessively

When you update excessively, your Followers may very well miss out on reading your best and most valuable Tweets. In the end it’s all about the value of the content, and not the quantity of your updates.

Don’t Toot Your Own Horn Excessively

As with every social situation – be it online or offline – be sure to stay humble, and don’t excessively toot your own horn.

Don’t Read Every Tweet

On the surface this has nothing to do with branding, but I thought it would be necessary to include it here because if you happen to spend too much time reading other Tweets, than you simply won’t have any time to brand and grow your own business.

Follow IQ Matrix on Twitter

If you are interested in keeping updated with the latest Mind Mapping, Accelerated Learning and Self-Improvement news from around the web than please Follow IQ Matrix on Twitter. Additionally the IQ Matrix Twitter updates include alerts of new Mind Map poster releases and other relevant information that filters through the IQ Matrix Blog and Shop.

Twitter Badges Created by Paul Foreman

The talented hand drawn Mind Mapper Paul Foreman has created a set of unique Follow Me Twitter badges you can add to your blog for free to draw attention to your Twitter Profile.

Please visit the Mind Map Inspiration Blog for further examples of his drawing skills, inspiring Mind Maps and to view additional Follow Me on Twitter Badges that Paul has created.

Twitter Resources

Here are several handy Twitter resources that you may find useful to help improve your Twitter experience:

Your Questions Answered

Photo Sharing

Video Sharing

12seconds

Twitter Management

Desktop Applications

iPhone Applications

BlackBerry Applications

TwitterBerry

Other Mobile Applications

Twitter Directories

Twitter Statistics

URL Shortening Services

How to Twitter Blog Posts

Before delving into the list of articles and blog posts, I would highly recommend you visit and subscribe to TwiTip which is a How To Twitter Blog providing beginner and advanced Twitter users with tips, techniques and strategies for making the most use of their Twitter time and establishing their branded identity. The blog is managed by fellow Australian Darren Rowse of Pro Blogger. and presents a definitive guide of everything to do with Twitter.

Another great Twitter Blog is EverythingTwitter. They have a wonderful list of articles and resources that are definitely worth checking out.

Here are a number of highly recommended free articles that were researched when creating this blog post and accompanying Mind Map:

Final Thoughts

Twitter is quickly becoming a primary marketing tool for bloggers, website owners and companies around the world. Utilized correctly it can become a very effective marketing tool that will generate interest for your brand and help extend your reach into new market segments. So if you have not yet jumped onto the bandwagon, than you may very well be missing out on a powerful medium that will help generate excitement for your products and services.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to share the How to Twitter IQ Matrix Mind Map than please share it with others via Twitter.

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About Adam Sicinski

I am a Qualified Life Coach residing in Australia. My primary areas of expertise are built upon the foundations of Accelerated Learning, Information Management, Personal Transformation, Cognitive Psychology, NLP and Mind Mapping. To find out more please visit my Personal Website or connect with me on Facebook or LinkedIn.