Your Twitter Profile

Optimising your Twitter profile from the beginning is the best first step you can take to ensure the long-term success of your account. It provides a powerful foundation that can improve the results of every marketing move you make thereafter. In this section I’ll go through each feature of your profile and describe how they can be optimised.

First, however, you need to set up your profile. To do so, simply go to www.twitter.com and create an account. The process is simple, with step-by-step instructions to guide you. Don’t worry about optimising your account during this initial process, as the information you enter can be changed later.

WARNING: The only feature of the setup process you do need to consider carefully is your Twitter username. Look at the section entitled Twitter Handle further into this chapter. This is vital because your handle or username (same thing) can’t easily be changed once it has been created so should be considered carefully before anything else.

As soon as you’ve finished the initial setup process, we can work on crafting your Twitter profile into its best possible shape.

Branding Your Account

As a creative type, you might see the word “brand” and immediately say, “I’m not a business. I’m a creative person and I won’t sell myself like some sleazy salesman!” I completely understand; I also value my creative integrity. No matter what kind of art you create, you probably create your art because you love to do it, not just for money or fame (although, that would be nice!). I’m guessing that you’d probably like more time to create, and to take your hobby or career to the next level. To do that you need to earn enough from your talent to leave your day job, or progress in your career. That’s where branding could help you.

By embracing branding, you are recognising that there are two sides to you as a creative professional. There is the normal, everyday ‘you’, who might be found in the local bar with friends, hurling banter about that time you all got drunk and ran naked through the town. And then there is the professional side of you who publishes your work, gets interviewed, and attends award ceremonies. These may be two very different people, but they are both a part of you. Branding is simply managing how you present yourself to your followers online, and how much of your different sides you actually share.

It’s fine to allow your personality and sense of humour to work their way into your professional endeavours – in fact, I encourage it. Your personality can help you to stand out, especially on Twitter. But I would caution you that anything you say on Twitter should match the professional you who would be ill-advised to cause unnecessary offence. Just because you can use Twitter at home doesn’t mean you have to share everything with your followers, just like you probably wouldn’t share the “drunkenly running through town naked” story at a boardroom meeting. Unless, of course, that’s part of your brand. If you’re a stand-up comedian, for example, then using bad language and mocking people may be part of your act and, therefore, part of your brand identity. Posting lots of polite tweets would be out of kilter with that public persona.

That being said, there are still lines you should set yourself and not cross. For example, would you feel comfortable sharing pictures of your children? Where you draw the line on revealing your private self is up to you. Just be aware that there probably should be a boundary.

Twitter is a 24-hour companion, something that’s always present. Most people have heard the horror stories of people texting whilst drunk. Those texts are usually sent to just one person. Imagine how damaging it would be to drunk-tweet to an audience of thousands.

Always assess whether you should really be discussing or sharing something on Twitter. If you wouldn’t say it at a public event, then the chances are it doesn’t fit your brand.

Having said that, you shouldn’t completely restrict the zany side of your personality (if you have one). It’s true that you don’t want to offend people, but you also don’t want to sound like a robot that simply replies to fans with vanilla comments. Add some flavour but don’t taste unpleasant. You need to identify clearly where your boundaries are when constructing your public persona, and to stick to your own rules for posting.

It’s okay to be weird on Twitter. In fact, originality is encouraged. If you’re offensive, you will lose most of your audience and attract a certain type of negative user. But if you are actually weird, those of your audience who don’t appreciate your quirks will probably gloss over them, or move on to a “safer” set of people to follow. Those who love imagination and strangeness will really engage with you. It will make you memorable and relatable.

Branding helps creative professionals to stand out, especially online. It presents the best, most memorable version of you possible. If done correctly, people will appreciate your artistic vision. Over time they will show that appreciation by supporting your creativity.

Twitter Handle

In terms of constructing your profile, we’ll begin with your handle – your unique identity tag on Twitter. Ideally, it should be your real name, stage name, or pen name, but those are already taken for most people. If that’s true for you, at least ensure that your handle is short and memorable. There are two compelling reasons for this:

1) Using your handle is the only way people can contact you. Your followers need to type it correctly to guarantee that you will receive any messages directed your way. My handle is @dkparsonswriter. Obviously, this isn’t ideal as it doesn’t match the name on my books, which is Daniel Parsons. However, it does include my initials, surname, and my job which should make it easy to remember for most of my followers. When I opened my account, @DanielParsons (my first choice), was taken.

2) Your handle needs to be as short as possible. That way, it’s easier to remember and less likely to include a typo when people include it in a tweet. Making it easier for your followers to include your handle in tweets will get you mentioned in more places, widening your exposure.

Changing a Twitter Handle

Once you’ve set up your Twitter handle, you can request to change it, but doing so has consequences. If you’re verified, you’ll lose your verification badge and it could result in a lot of confusion. Had I known at the beginning what I know now, I would have chosen a shorter handle, more consistent with my authorial brand. However, changing it now is too risky for me as it could mean losing followers. That’s a lesson learned the hard way!

Account Name

Your name on your Twitter account is the title people see next to your profile picture. It doesn’t have to be unique. Most people use this space to include their real name or company name so that their followers know exactly what to call them if their handle doesn’t make that obvious.

For the creative professional, I would suggest either providing your real name, pen name, or stage name – whichever is consistent with your brand. You should avoid labelling yourself as the title of your latest work, or a character, simply because you would have to keep rebranding as you move onto newer projects. Too many times have I seen authors create a Twitter account in the name of their debut novel, instead of after themselves, and then abandon the account and start fresh when they release another book. Using your own name keeps your Twitter identity consistent and allows for better long-term growth.

Profile Picture

The effectiveness of your profile picture depends entirely on what you are trying to convey. As a creative person, you’re probably going to need a picture of yourself. Try not to use a drunken Facebook photo or a holiday snap, as these images make you look unprofessional – that is, unless you’re a travel writer or you write books about partying, in which case these images may be perfect for your brand.

In most cases the best approach is to take a head-and-shoulders picture in which you’re dressed in smart-casual clothes and you are looking into the camera. Not only does this make you look professional without looking too formal, but followers engage with your eyes.

As a final note on profile pictures, at least make sure you have one. Accounts with a standard Twitter egg placeholder often put off users and have considerably lower levels of engagement. Even a bad profile picture is better than nothing at all (as long as it’s not offensive).

Biography

Your biography, or “bio,” is a short passage that describes you. It’s limited to 160 characters and is situated under your image on your profile page.

If you want intelligent, creative people to follow you then you need to show that you are also intelligent and creative. You should write in a good standard of English and include a few interesting details about yourself.

Include words that relate to your field, whether that be “author,” “painter,” “lecturer,” or whatever. These words can be found by search engines, exposing your profile to a wider audience beyond Twitter alone. Implying that you have authority in your subject is also...