Setting Up and Optimizing Your Twitter Profile

So now you need to get signed up for Twitter!
Before signing up, consider if you want a personal or a business Twitter account. Both are good for a
company to have, but serve different purposes.

Company account: Represents the company as a whole. Use this type of account to:
• Keep your customer base up‐to‐date on your events
• Promote recent blog articles or news
• Update your consumers about products/services
• Give real‐time updates at conferences and events

Personal account: Used by an individual employee at the company. This account type is more
personalized, can be used to talk about non‐company related things and is better for direct relationship
building. Use this type of account to:

• Act as a liaison to the public for your company
• Update people on what you’re working on
• Share tidbits about your personality
• Expand your company’s network and make connections

For this eBook, we will walk through the steps for creating a personal account. The set up for a company
account works almost exactly the same; however, the name of the account should be the name of the
company and the content of its updates should not include individual or personal information.

To get your own account, go to http://twitter.com and click the “Join the conversation!” button.
Clicking this button will bring you to a page where you will select your username and password.

Your username is very important. This name will be how people will refer to you on Twitter, and
potentially how people will acknowledge you if you ever meet any of your Twitter followers offline.
Think of your Twitter handle as your personal brand name. That’s how important it is.

Ideas for Twitter Handles:
1) Your full name (JamesDean)
2) A variation of your name (JDean)
3) A combination of your name and your company (CompanyJane)
4) A combination of your name and your industry (MarketingJane)

Making your Twitter handle as close to your name as possible will make it easier for people to recognize
you at a conference or event. However, sometimes people will put their Twitter handles on their
nametag to avoid confusion.

Using your real name on Twitter helps you look like a real, authentic person if someone stumbles upon
your profile.

If you will be the only person representing your company on Twitter—and you do not plan to make a
company Twitter account—why not use the third option and make it a combination of your name and
company? Don’t feel obligated to do this; you will have the opportunity to put your company in your
profile (explained in the next section).

Twitter Handle DON’TS:
1) Don’t make your Twitter handle something completely random (TigerMan). This is a lost
branding opportunity for you and your company.

2) Don’t use numbers (Joanne123). Unless there is a reason for the specific numbers, it looks
juvenile. It also conjures the old AOL chat room days. It gives you the appearance that you aren’t
putting thought into your username.

3) Don’t use an underscore (PR_Max). Using an underscore won’t hurt you, but be aware that it
generally is never done. Use at risk of seeming unaware of the “social norms.”

After you choose your handle and click “Create my account,” it will bring you to a screen asking to check
if your email contacts are already on Twitter. If you have a Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo account, feel free to
see if anyone you know is already signed up. (However, this is not a required step. Feel free to skip.) If
you do decide to check, beware of the prompt asking if you’d like to invite them all to Twitter. This will
send a message all your contacts. Only do this if you want to.