News: "5 Days to master your Twitter" by Cool FD

Day 1 : Create it and/or update it !

This first step could look funny because it is so obvious. But unfortunately I come across so many accounts not updated, which is even worst than not existing. Here are some simple questions, and easy to solve ones as well, you could ask yourself in order to make a global check point :

• Is my name written correctly ? Do not forget that people could be looking for you. They won’t try more than 3 times. So chose it or change your name to the most easy to be found. For instance, I am Cool FD, I make beats, so my twitter name is Coolfdbeats. Try it, type it, you’ll find me directly.
• Do I look like I am ? The profile picture is fundamental. Could it be your face or a landscape that reveals your state of mind, it must be a true representative.
• What do they learn about me ? Your twitter biography is a golden opportunity : a large part of the people who visit your twitter profile will look at it. You can catch them (or make them run away) with one sentence. Use precise words to describe what you do, what you are working, what are your goals and who you are tweeting for. To sum up, send a clear message.
• Where do I want to redirect my followers ? Here is the core question of the social media magic. Twitter (or any other social media) can not (and must not) be your website. You can’t concentrate all the main infos about you. This is not why it has been built for. Structural infos about your grind must be written on an official website or blog. And your social medias have to target it. Like rivers into the ocean.
• Now that i’m done, would they see it ? Your new twitter profile is complete, clever minded and thought for your very music business. Don’t forget to make it appear on your other social media accounts, website, and blog.

Day 2 : It’s a follow thing

Now that your Twitter profile is created and/or updated, you wanna be heard ! That is the aim, yes indeed, but you got to learn this basic rule on twitter : it costs follows to get follows. Why ? Here are, at least, 3 reasons that will convince you to start following people because it worth it.

• It’s all in the interactions : technically speaking, Twitter is a matter of links and contacts between people, through their accounts. In other words, your existence is ignored until you reach people. To reach them, you have to follow them in order to react and answer to what they post. So don’t be shy or too proud, and start following your tomorrow’s followers !
• Build your community : this precise aspect of Twitter is powerful. You have the choice to follow who you want : those who inspire you, those who support you, those are on the same level than you. To sum up, you can build a relentless source of information and written facts directly connected to your activity, goals or questions. Once you’re done with this #2, do not forget to keep interacting (see #1).
• Wear your Tweet List like a suit : the following process and all the good things that it brings must be kept reinvented at any moments of your career. This abality of relentlessly find new people to follow and to speak with will guarantee you to find solutions and opportunities to any problems and at any steps.

Day 3 : Content is king

This well known concept is so relevant when it comes to build a Twitter strategy. You need to be interesting. You need to be smart and precise. You need to catch the attention. Your average follower’s tweet timeline is updated every minute, and Twitter faces with 500 million Tweets each day. So if you don’t made the cut, you’re just wasting time. And independent artists can’t afford it.

• Determine your purpose : what am I about ?
• Determine who you want to be your readers : who do I tweet for ?
• Engage leaders and influencers : mention the people you follow every time it is possible and every time it is relevant. They will help you in this quest of visibility thanks to mentions and RTs. And then, your content will speak for itself.

Day 4 : a bunch of powerful side tools

At this step of your weekly challenge to master your Twitter account, it’s time to focus on the little things that can make the differences in this Twitter jungle. Of course, these tools can be handled in so many ways. So most important thing is that you consider them and start thinking about them as powerful tools. Here are the ways I use some of them :

• Hashtags : depending on your content and your activities, you can create relevant hashtags and keep sticking to them. The more visible you become, the more usefull these hashtags will be for your followers and fans. That’s also a good way to build yourself as a brand and / or as an influencer, which is, according to me, the main stake of this Twitter game for independent artists.
• Favorite Tweets : I use this function as a reminder, a « to check list ». When I see a relevant link or an audio I don’t want to miss, I favorite the Tweet and be back at it later.
• RTs : this function deserves a whole blog post, but to sum up, I use it to spread the work of the artists I appreciate. The edit function of RTs is, therefor, very important since you can precise why you RT this or that information.
• Lists : to be totally honest with yall, I started to study and use this function just weeks ago. So far, I’ve been able to underline at least 2 functions of it. First, it’s a smart way to organize the people vibin around your twitter account, and have a focused look on what a precise category. This can also put you as a person of network, by giving an access to your follower to who is important and usefull to follow as well.
• The search function : don’t miss a tweet about anything you need, could it be blog posts about your music or job research ! Editing a tweet research is very easy, and some cool advice are available on the Internet to push this function even forward.

Day 5 : one Twitter, two steps

I’m pretty sure you’re now convinced that tweeting is totally not only about spamming your latest soundcloud release or youtube new visual. It’s much more than that and it can give you back real benefits that go way beyond your own hopes. A complete tool like Twitter require a comfortable user experience. Try these two steps and lemme know your feedback !

• Twitter.com : if you’re new to Twitter, you should definitely spend some time on the official Twitter website first. You’ll find all the functions mentionned in this article, in a very nice layout. Smartphone user ? It’s all good with the mobile app too (I personnaly use it too when i’m not behind my PC screen).
• Tweetdeck : this wonderful tool allows you to see your time line, mentions, researches and more at the same time. It really improved my Twitter experience and I highly recommand it. It is important to notice that it is totally possible to use your Twitter app and Tweetdeck, depending on what aspect of your Twitter strategy you’re on at the moment.

 So here my « 5 days to master your Twitter account ». This is my own vision of this powerful social media. Of course many other ways exist and are still to be discovered. Feel free to comment, share and send me your thoughts directly by email. And of course, holla at me on Twitter !