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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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How to Choose a Good Twitter Username

March 9, 2010 By 5 Comments

As a business owner you may want to give some thought into the selection of your Twitter username. A good Twitter username can give you an advantage in marketing yourself or your business.

When it comes to Twitter usernames you have the following 3 choices:

1. Use Your Real Name (example @RichardBranson)

This is the best option for business owners who want to promote themselves directly. For example, if you are a real estate agent you may want to promote yourself to your local community. Using your real name is very effective on Social Networks because people are interested in making connection with a real person instead of a company. Also, this option is more suitable if you intend to use Twitter for personal use.

2. Use the Name of Your Business or Brand (example @TechThinker)

If people are going to find your business using your brand name then it is important to use your brand name as your Twitter username. For example, I use the name of my blog (TechThinker) as my username on Twitter since I want to promote my business under this brand name.

3. Use a Keyword Rich and Descriptive Name (example @WhatsOnToronto)

Some people prefer to use a keyword rich Twitter username that describes the nature of their business. For example, the username name @WhatsOnToronto is self explanatory. It is not hard to figure out what this Twitter profile is all about. Google pays a lot of attention to content generated by Social Networks. Therefore using a keyword rich username may allow you to take advantage of Google search results.

Tips for Selecting a Twitter Username

1. A Twitter Username cannot exceed the maximum 15 character limit.

2. A Twitter Username can be changed without creating a new account. You will NOT lose your followers due to a username change.

3. If you happen to change your username, make sure to immediately create a new Twitter account with your old username. Simply leave a tweet (in the newly created account) indicating the fact that you have moved to a new Twitter username.

4. If your real name is already taken, then try a username with initials (example @RobASmith) or try a name with an adjective or description (example @RealtorDavid).

5. Whenever possible try to keep your username short. Your username will consume characters when it appears on a tweet or retweet. Therefore, keep your user name as short as you can.

6. Avoid underscores(“_”) on your username. On many mobile phones it is often hard to type the underscore. Not all mobile phones support the underscore directly on the keyboard, even if the underscore is found on the keyboard it might be hard to locate it.

Do you have any other tips to choose a good username? Please share them below.

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