Are you Fake or Real on Twitter?

Getting started with Twitter? Want to build your followers list without looking spammy? Below are a tips to help get your Twitter account in fast track mode.

Look Like A Real Person or Business

Lets knock out the easiest up front, so many users simply forget to make their Twitter accounts look real. By real I mean personalizing it to match who you are or your business.

Twitter provides profile settings to control just about every aspect of your Twitter page. Take a few minutes to change the background colors, background image and profile icon.

If you are Twittering for your business, take some time to use the business logo and colors. Make sure to use the business name and fill out the profile along with the url to the business site.

If your Twitter account is for personal use, try using a profile icon that is a great picture of you. If you do not like using your picture, use a picture that represents your personality. For example if you are into fitness you might use a treadmill or dumbell, if you were a foodie you might use a cupcake or steak. Get creative!

Actually use Twitter

When followed I tend to go look at the users profile to see if I should follow back. I look for several factors the first is how real the profile looks which we covered above.
The second factor I use is what is this person talking about?

If a person never updates or consistently talks about items that are off topic I don’t follow back. Why would I follow someone who never updates? What would be the point in that?

Secondly if what they consistently talk about does not match their profile information, icon or Twitter name then why would I follow them? They are misleading me into thinking they are one thing but proving to be another. Even they are not intentionally misleading me, that’s what I think the are doing and they have lost my trust instantly.

You would be amazed at how many Twitter accounts I look at that say they are one thing via Icon, Profile and URL. When I look a bit closer and see the level of conversation via Twitter messages and the topics discussed it tells a completely different story. The only time I give allowance to this is on personal accounts. Business accounts look completely unprofessional when used to address off topic trends and gossip.

If you saw your profile for the first time, would you follow your Twitter account? Is there anything that jumps out as spammy or fake? Go fix it!

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