I rarely (o.k. never) go a day without Twitter impacting me. I tell a tale of the positive, educational, Tour de Force of this social networking land to everyone who will listen. A few people have asked me to help them to understand Twitter simply. So, I will remind you how to enhance your Twitter experience by using what you already know...from your Mom!

1. Hold Hands
Get out and get to know people. Take the initiative to meet new people, high five someone who deserves kudos, lend a hand to a follower in need. I started with people that I admired in the photography industry and branched out from there. Do searches on your interests to find cool folks to follow with common interests and like mindedness.

Awesome Twitter search tool: TwitPwr (link via @AlexKaris)

I typically peruse the person's Twitter homepage to be sure they are positive, engaging, and interesting. Then I "hold hands" and follow. If you need help, send me a Direct Message and I'll advise or watch Follow Friday happen for awesome suggestions of great follows.

2. Play Nice
My mom always said "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Which side of the of magnet are you?" The side that draws others in to stay or the side that repels? Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) first taught me that each day you should take some time to stop listen and reply to others in an engaging manner. Send out a few @replies to tweets that catch your eye. That type of playing nice makes Twitter rock!

3. Share
By all means, share with us your photos, your funny stories, your heartfelt causes, your hilarious links, your creative ideas and your sound opinion. There is no better global show & tell than Twitter. Don't forget to pass on through a retweet (RT) something that you find helpful or moving. Endorse your friends. They like that. It shows them you're listening while caring.

4. Never Arrive Empty Handed
Don't get stymied by having something super important to say. I have tweeted about cheese, Scooby Doo, and calling my cellphone to locate it. But Bring Something to the party. Providing value is the key with a good recipe of self expression, friendship, professional information, and promoting others.

5. Have the Best Intentions.
If you wander Twitter with good intentions, your followers will grow organically and your experience will be enriched. Ask yourself periodically what's important to you Tweet with that honest intention in mind. People who are self-serving and all about self-promotion have no "hidden" agenda. I unfollow that type of Twitter taker. Most of all, have fun with it! Right, Mom?

Leigh
@fleurdeleigh
ps. Even my MOM is on Twitter. You can do it!

The Twitter experience is nothing if not unique. How each of us tweet, how we share and what we draw from the experience creates our own Twitter Thumbprint. Nary a one the same.

When I was asked the other day, “How can I get a bunch of followers in a short time span” I drew silent. (Uncharacteristic, I know.) That is so not Twitter to me! I suddenly realized that the questioner and I were not ideological Twitter bedfellows. Clear to me was the fact that this fellow wanted numbers, big numbers, tons of cool followers for his home page. Ego buffering, perhaps. And as we spoke a bit more, I suspected that my Twitter Thumbprint which has allowed me the organic growth of a couple thousand new followers was not what he wanted out of Twitter.

I can only tell you that I find Twitter both a classroom and a playground bustling with wise teachers and hilarious playmates. The experience that I have had with Twitter these last few months has been remarkably positive. So, I will share with you my thumbprint.

Here’s how I twitter. If it resembles your intentions and goals for Twitterland, you may find it helpful. If you seek the transparent popularity that of the “10K followers in two months” folks deem possible, my thumbprint won’t suit you. And I'll fashion you a glittery "Muy Popular" paper crown.


Throw a line out.
After spending some time viewing others on the Twitter stream one day, I finally casted out my own line. Prior to that moment, my tweets were literally “What are you doing now? answers with little value to anyone but me who already knew the answer to that question in the first place. I had 67 great followers most of whom I knew in person and I followed double that. My lightbulb experience came when I began engaging in dialogue with other tweeple, retweeting what I found interesting, and seeking ways that I could do some of these awesome new followers a kindness. I shared their links, I recommended them to others, I left a sincere comment on their blog. I tweeted about it in a 140 character version of this, my Twitter mantra:

The moment when you stop viewing your followers as a SUM and see them instead as a SOMEONE, then Twitter becomes meaningful.


Be yourself, be sincere, be interested.
To truly benefit from this social networking tool you need to know your intention clearly. I am a friendly, upbeat person forever open to learning from others. So I behaved true to myself. Each time I had a new follower my first step was a visit to their home page to paruse their tweets and follow a website link. It’s easy for me to find a interesting bit about everyone, I like people, so I sent a DM thanking them for the follow with a genuine nugget about why I was glad to be following them. That’s when I started meeting many rockstar “someones.” Unfortunately, to keep greeting followers individually as they arrive has become too time consuming to maintain. Girl's gotta work, eat & sleep too.


Seek out followers with common interests.
Twitter is not one size fits all. Do a self analysis on your interests and plug it into Twitter Search. You'll be shown tweeple who are talking about that very topic. I do this every so often to get akin followers. I explained this to my mother who searched "gardening" "NCAA March Madness" and "cooking" to help her find some interesting new folks to follow. To each their own, follows.


Soak up the beauty of kindness on Twitter.
People who seek only numbers, will get only numbers. I found new true friends, creative inspiration, personal connections, support, caring, business advice and best practices, a large network of people whom I care about everyday and who in turn feed my soul. I have so many great Twitter experiences to share but this is a fine example of the sharing community that makes it so awesome: I uploaded a two hour interview off of my digital voice recorder into my Mac and it erased the files. Panic set in…I did a few somersaults to calm myself down…and then spent the next 45 minutes on hold with the technical help number.

In comes Twitter. I decided while on the phone to ask my Tweeple if anyone had a potential solution. Within a minute, four people @AzureMarcommTX @Kbzon @Mama_Red and @andypohl came to my rescue. I spent the next hour plus the phone with Andy, coincidentally from my town, who walked me through the whole thing. Crisis averted. Friendship solidified! Beer owed :)

Twitter's mark on me is pronounced (hmm. I am wearing a shirt that says "eat. sleep. tweet" for Pete's sake. That is why I wanted to share the ways that I have optimized Twitter for my enjoyment. Seek out your mark. Your Twitter thumbprint is your own.

Leigh
@fleurdeleigh