An Artist's Guide to Twitter

What is Twitter? Basically it's a form of "micro-blogging". Really micro. About 140 characters micro. You have your own homepage where you post updates called "tweets", which look similar to blog posts. People can also choose to "follow" your tweets. So that every time you post a tweet, they will see it instantly on their Twitter page. You can also post tweets directly to other people on the Twitter network. So in a way Twitter is sort of a cross between instant messaging and blogging.

Like I mentioned earlier, your posts or "tweets" can only be about 140 characters long. So there is no long drawn out posts on Twitter. Your messages are short and to the point. In your tweets you can tell people what you're doing, post links to interesting things you've discovered, pretty much anything you can think of.

You can post updates in a couple different ways. You can log on to your account at Twitter and submit your tweets there. You can also add your cell phone number to your account and update via text messaging. There's also some software that you can download to your computer that allows you to post your own tweets and monitor the tweets of the people your following without having to go to the website.

"Okay", you might say, "But, I'm an artist. I'm busy doing my artist thing...what good is Twitter going to do me?". Twitter's great for a lot of people...including artists. Do you have a blog? A website? An Etsy store? If so, great! You can use Twitter to help encourage people to visit your blog, your website, or your Etsy store...if you have all three, you're golden! Twitter can help you point people to either one of these place or all three. Here's how!

Say you are in your studio and you've finished new piece and you've just posted a picture it on your blog or on your website. You can post a "tweet" (that's the Twitterish for an update) that says something like" I just finished my latest painting, check it out on my blog". Then include a link to your blog post or your web page and send your tweet. Now everyone who's following your tweets will get the message along with the link to your website. Volia! (Almost) Instant visitors!

That's just one way that you can use Twitter. Need some more ideas? Here's a few more:

• Use Twitter to meet other artists. There's millions of Twitter users...some of them are bound to be artists like you!


• Use Twitter to announce sneak previews for your products or changes to your website.


• Use Twitter to announce television appearances. And don't forget any "appearances" on radio, podcasts, blogs, magazines, and newspapers.


• Use Twitter to gather feedback about your products. Post a new product and let your customers tell you what they think!


• Use Twitter to communicate with your customers when your website goes down or when you lose your Internet connection.


• Use Twitter as a survey tool. Need to know what people think about something? Throw the question out there and find out!


• Do you have an artist's co-op or Etsy team? Create a Twitter account just for that co-op or team to get your group news out!


• Use Twitter as an information resource for your followers by including links to useful websites and bits of news.


• Use Twitter to do live reporting at a gallery opening, exhibition, or conference.


• Use Twitter to give special offers just for your followers...you might even want to create a special, private Twitter account just for this.


• Use Twitter for inspiration. If you follow interesting people, you'll get a lot of idea and resources that you've never thought about...you can use Twitter for more than just tooting your own horn!


• Use Twitter to get help. If you have a problem or a question, post a tweet and let your followers come to the rescue.


• Use Twitter to keep up with what's going on with the Phoenix Mars Lander, the BBC newsroom, the CNN newsroom, or presidental candidates Barack Obama and John McCain (unofficial)

Now that you know what Twitter is and what you can use it for, get started by going to Twitter.com and opening your free account.

P.S.- If you don't have a blog or a website, don't fret. Check out these lenses for some ideas and resources on how to get started:

• How Artists Can Market Themselves on the Internet


• Resources for Craft Websites

Joining Twitter is pretty useless if you're not connected to anyone. During the few weeks I've been on Twitter, I've found that it has become a lot more interesting and useful once I found some cool people to follow. Here are some tips on how to find interesting people on Twitter:

1. Follow people you already know- It's seems obvious, but some of the first people you follow should be the people that you already know. If you're using an email service like Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, or MSN, you can allow Twitter to search your address book to see if any of your contacts are already on Twitter. It also allows you to send an email invitation to people from your address book to join Twitter if the don't already have a Twitter account.

2. Browse the followers of your followers- If you already have people following you, visit the profile of your current followers and see who's following them. Chances are that you may find potential followers that have the same interests as you.

3. Don't follow indiscriminately- Try to find people that have the same interests as you. Twitter is as much about monitoring as it is about sending updates. You want the people that you're following to be talking about things of interest to you. So choose the people you follow carefully. Before you hit "follow" button, check out that person's previous tweets. What were they about? Are they entirely self-serving, are they just talking about what they last fed their cat, or do they provide some interesting information as well? Because of the nature of Twitter, you will get a certain amount of "chatter" that you may not be interested in, but some of the most interesting people to follow will balance that with some interesting.

It's also a good idea to look at the volume and frequency of a person's tweets as well. How often do they tweet? When was their last tweet? If it was a month or two ago...they might not make an interesting person to follow. By the same token, you may not have the time to follow someone who tweets every 10 minutes throughout the day.

4. Follow those who follow you...within reason- On Twitter, it's usually good form to follow the people that's following you. But be careful! There are some that try to use this common courtesy just to gather large numbers of followers so they can spam them with unwelcome commercial messages. Again, don't be indiscriminate when it comes to following people on Twitter...it's okay not to follow someone if they seem to be trying to spam you.

5. Use the Twitter search function to find people- Twitter has a search engine that allows you to search profiles and tweets. So if you type in the word "art" you'll find all of those Twitter profiles and tweets that contain the word "art". Be aware that this is a kind of scattergun approach to finding followers, but it can be a good way to start if you don't already have followers.

6. Check out Summize and Twello- There's also a couple of interesting services that you can use to find people to follow. One service called Summize allows you to search Twitter conversations. If you type in the word "crafts" you'll get all of the Twitter conversations that contain the word "crafts". I actually like this service a bit better than the Twitter search.

Another service called Twello is sort of a Yellow Pages for Twitter. It's set up as a categorized directory of people on Twitter according to occupation and interests. So if you're interested in the arts or small business, you can go directly to the section that lists all those people on Twitter who tweet about those topics.

Now following people on Twitter is only part of the equation. You also want people to follow you so that they can see your updates. Here are a few tips to help build up your Twitter following:

1. Find interesting people to follow- One of the best ways to start a following on Twitter is to follow people yourself. Find interesting, active Twitterers to follow. If you've read the previous section, you'll know how to do this. If you haven't, go back read it over carefully.

2. Answer direct tweets- Don't ignore direct tweets from your followers. Know that Twitter is a two-way street. If you ignore your followers, you may not have them for long.

3. Join in conversations- A lot of people use Twitter to ask for comments, opinions, and questions. Don't be afraid to join in the conversation. The ability to send and receive direct tweets is part of what can make Twitter so useful. Take advantage of it.

4. Be interesting- The best way to build a following is to be interesting. If every tweet you post is about your dog or the bunion on your foot, you won't get much of a following. Same goes for tweets promoting your work or your website. Just like in the real world, people get bored when you talk about yourself all the time. Try mixing some useful information in with your tweets...this could mean links to useful, interesting, or funny websites, news that you've heard on TV or the radio...anything that you think your followers might enjoy.

By the same token, don't be afraid not to include tweets about your dog or the bunion on your foot. Part of what makes Twitter interesting is that you get a glimpse into a person's life. Do include some tidbits from your day...just don't make everything all about you.

5. Be personable- Even if you're using Twitter to communicate with potential customers, leave out the business-speak. Let your personality come through in your tweets. People need to feel that there is a person there at the other end of the Internet connection. Be funny, philosophical, or even a bit snarky if that's part of your personality. Be yourself.

Now on the flip side, while you want to be personable, do remember that Twitter is a public forum...so you may want to keep the questionable stuff (profanity, off-color humor, potentially offensive stuff) to a minimum.

6. Make it easy to follow you- It should be easy for any of your twittering customers to follow you. If you have a blog, post a link to your Twitter page on your blog and ask your readers to follow you. If you have an email list, send an email out to your subscribers and ask them to follow you. If you have a MySpace or a Facebook account, or yes... even a Squidoo lens, you can hook up your Twitter account so that your friends and visitors can see your tweets!

7. Tweet- No one wants to follow someone who only have a couple of tweets, or even worse yet...no tweets at all. People decide whether the want to follow you by what you tweet about...and they sure can't decide if you only have a few or none. Before you start trying to gather followers, make sure that you have something interesting for people to read.

8. Don't make it all about getting the most followers- Don't go charging into Twitter with the sole purpose of getting thousands upon thousands of followers (although that would be nice). You don't need thousands of followers in order to make Twitter work for you. And not everyone on Twitter will be interested in what you say anyway. Instead, start slowly with people you already know and then build your following slowly by networking with your current followers, seeking out interesting Twitters with common interests, and of course by being interesting yourself.

9. Keep your updates open- Twitter gives you the option to keep your updates private except to people you allow to see them. This is kind of like putting out a welcome mat that says "Go Away!". Whenever someone starts following me, I like to visit their profile page to see what they're all about before I follow them back. But if they have their updates protected, I can't do that. So I end up not following them back. If you want to have a private, members-only Twitter account, keeping your updates is a great idea. However, if your goal is to get as many followers as possible, keep those updates public.

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