There’s no doubt about it – Twitter and twittering is the latest craze in traffic-driving and establishing yourself as an authority. And if you want to jump into the Twitter bandwagon, there’s no better way to start than learning the basics.

Without further adieu, let’s get started!

Use Your Profile To Your Advantage!
Make sure that you have included a picture in your Twitter profile. How to pick the right picture? Well, there’s no definite rule but you need to make sure it says something about yourself.  Some are using their children’s picture, others opt for their branded logos… the list could go on.

However, since we’re trying to establish ourselves as an authority within our niche or market, it’s best that we go with pictures that people within the niche could easily relate to. For example, if you have a website promoting chess books and related stuff, why not use a pawn as your avatar?

Aside from that, you can also tweak your Twitter profile’s background. The website has provided some resources for this, but I would recommend finding and downloading the appropriate background from other sites. Or, if that doesn’t cut, you can have someone to do it for you.

140 Characters ONLY!
Yes,  fellas.  You’ve read that right – you only have 140 characters to impress or WOW your audience (commonly known as followers). That’s not a lot. So forget about the long introduction, drop all the hype, and make sure that your post is something that inspires, entertains, educates, and encourages other people to follow you.

Don’t Be Pushy!
Promoting and educating your followers about your product, website, or service is cool. But pushing them into your followers’ faces is NOT! Personally, I have promoted my blog and the blog posts in it. But I do so in a way that intrigues them… makes them want to know more! Forget about selling your service hard through Twitter – that’s a surefire way to lose all your followers and get spanked by Twitter!

There are other tips and techniques about using Twitter in a more effective and productive way. But that’s another story. Nail down these basics and you’ll be ready to advance in the Twitter traffic-sucking industry in no time!