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How to Write a Good Twitter Bio

March 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

twitter_bio

So far I have written on how to choose a good Twitter username and how to choose a Twitter profile picture. Today, in this post we will look at how to write up a great Twitter bio. Writing a Twitter bio is hard because you only have 160 characters at your disposal. The challenge is to get your message to your customers in 160 characters or less. While a great profile picture will make a good first impression, a well written bio can allow potential clients to make a connection with your business.

When writing up your bio you need to address the following:

1. Who you are & What you do

In this section you would describe your job title or area of expertise. For example, Software Developer, Life Coach, Internet Marketer etc. If you own a business you can describe your business. For example, “Principle Designer at NY based design boutique Graphic Design Co”.

2. How can you help

In this section you need to tell people how they can benefit from your products and services. For example, “I help businesses to create exceptional brand identities at affordable rates”.

3. Words describing your personal attributes

It is not all about your business. People like to know your personality as well. Since point 1 and point 2 would have taken most of the text in your bio, you can use keywords to describe your personal attributes. For example, Papa Bear, Hockey Fan, Avid Photographer, World Traveller etc.

The following is the profile description of Christine Gallagher who is a social media coach. This profile has almost all of the attributes that I have mentioned above.

 

Teaching small biz owners how to use relationship marketing & social media to attract more biz. Adores animals. Jersey Girl Entrepreneur. Info Junkie. Heck Yeah

 

Things to Avoid

It is important that you avoid the following when creating your Twitter bio.

  1. Do not use the bio text to link to any other websites you own.
  2. Avoid any sales pitch. The bio is there to help people get to know you better. No one will buy your products until they get to know you.
  3. Avoid slang including SMS language.

 

What is your Twitter bio? Share it in the comments so that you can get feedback from me and other readers.

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Tips for Making the Best Profile Picture

March 11, 2010 By 5 Comments

In my last post, I provided some tips for selecting a good username on Twitter. In this post I will give you some tips to get your profile picture right. The tips in this post not only apply to Twitter but also for other Social Networks.

Your profile picture is the first point of contact for a person who is interested in knowing more about you. Therefore, it is important that you give some thought into the selection of your profile picture. As a business owner you need to project the right image to your clients.

Here are some of my tips for selecting a good profile picture. These tips are more applicable for people who use Twitter for business purposes.

  1. Be yourself. Do not fake your personality. It is very important that your clients’ expectations about you are met if both of you had to meet face to face.
  2. Take the picture in a relaxed position. Wear clothes that your are comfortable with and ones that reflect your style and personality.
  3. Take the picture in a brightly lit environment.
  4. It is preferable to have a neutral color background.
  5. Do not have other distractions in your photo. For example, do not take a picture with your dog. Your clients are not interested in your dog. They are interested in getting to know you better.
  6. Only have other people and objects in your picture, if they are related to your business or profession. For example, if you are a professional Dog Trainer then you got to have a picture with a dog!
  7. Make direct eye contact on the picture, it is important that you come across as a confident person in the eyes of your prospective clients.
  8. Avoid Logos! If you own a business or a brand, do not use the logo as your profile picture. In social networks people are more interested in making connections to people, not organizations. Even if you use your company name as the username in your Twitter account, it is important to show your face in the profile picture.
  9. Keep your profile picture consistent across different networks such as Twitter, Facebook etc. This allows potential clients to easily recognize you.
  10. Take multiple pictures in different postures with varying smiles.
  11. Ask family and friends for their opinion. Get a vote. Choose the picture that gets the most number of votes.

I hope you found the above tips useful. Add your own tips in the comments section. Thank you.

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