New to Twitter? Here are a few tips to give you a jumpstart:

• Have an avatar (picture) & a bio that either explains your interests or your reason for being on twitter or a little of both.
• Messages are called “tweets” by most Twitter users.
• Don’t follow ANYONE before getting a few tweets out. People will want to see what you are about before following you back.
• Follow some good folks who can model Twitter for you. People who are being followed by more than 1000 people are usually setting a good example.
• Engage with people you are following by replying to some of their tweets. These messages include an @username in the text.
• Forward (otherwise known as “Retweet”) tweets you find interesting. Give credit for the tweet by including “RT @username: ” before the tweet (some twitter clients have a retweet option).
• Register yourself on organic directories like Omnee and WeFollow. Look for people with similar interests on these directories and follow some of them.
• I don’t recommend following a bunch of people all at once. I’m personally “turned off” by people who have a much higher number of people they are following than are following them back. It sends a signal that you are not “worth following”.
• And don’t forget to follow me at http://twitter.com/goodlaura

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