Hopefully, this will be my last blog post about Twitter. If I want to add anything else, I'll just edit this post or create a page on the Travel Tweet Directory.

Looking through (mostly) travel-related Twitter profiles it seems I could probably offer some of the people who follow me on Twitter a little advice.

For most people, it's pretty clear; they are on Twitter as themselves. They have a decently cropped photograph as an avatar, use their real name, fill in location and add a short bio.

Some people even jazz up their profile page with an interesting background image.

Perfect.

Far be it for me to tell you 'how to' use Twitter but if you're reading this, then you might be looking for some 'branding' tips; or at least my thoughts on them.


Your Twitter Profile

The first place most people will look, if they're thinking about following you, is your profile. So make a good impression; or at least the impression you want visitors to your Twitter profile page to have about you.

Remember, 'Honesty is the Best Policy'.

Of course, there are those who may just follow you automatically, through various websites and software applications that use the Twitter API. Or because it's what they do.

I wouldn't really class these as followers but number generators. The numbers might make you feel good but I'm sure you'd feel better if the numbers were lower and the people following you were genuinely interested in at least some of your tweets; maybe even replying to you and passing on (or referencing) some of your tweets to their own followers.


Username and Real Name

Account Settings is where you can make your changes.

The 'Username' will be on the Twitter URL - and changing this can create broken links, if other websites are already linking to you.

It's one thing having a Twitter username that relays what you're about, but unless you're representing a well-known brand, tourist destination, or large hotel, it's probably a wise choice to reveal your real 'Name' in your profile too.

This will help people connect to you, on a more personal level.


More Info URL

If you have a web presence, this is the place to link to 'more about you' or your website/blog front page.

I don't really understand why people link to their Twitter profile here, as it's the page we're already on.

I can't really get to grips with why people link to a LinkedIn page either, unless they don't have a web presence (outside of all their 'social' media haunts).

Add a link to your Twitter profile from LinkedIn (if you use it) by all means, but if you have an online property, then why not create an about page on your own URL as well - and send your Twitter profile link to there?

At least this will bring people directly into your own Internet space from Twitter, then link to LinkedIn from your own domain (if you must).

Let LinkedIn work for you, sure, but make your Twitter profile work for you before it works for LinkedIn.


One Line Bio

'About yourself in fewer than 160 chars' - Now how hard is that?

We're only allowed 140 characters for our tweets but Twitter has kindly given us an extra 20 characters to play with here.

I'm surprised at how many people choose to ignore this space; waste it with silly ✩♕ ☁ ☟♘ ☯; tell us what their website is about (except for established brands); or the property they're trying to rent out - and not about themselves.

Is your website or holiday home doing the tweeting?

Hopefully, you are!

Of course you can be the founder of a travel website or owner of a holiday home, and it makes sense to say so.

So who are you? What are you about?


Location

Please, is an iPhone number really a location?

I don't want to call you, or come round to your house, but I wouldn't mind knowing roughly where you're from.

Having a proper location also makes it easier for people to find you on Twitter (and related directories), if they're interested in a particular destination.


The Picture



This is not really doing you any favours at all.

Change the picture here.

But before you do, think about it; are you really that bike, that flag, that baby, or that front door?

Is a squashed up version of the logo you use on your website really something your potential new followers will want to look at when you tweet to them?

If you're not really a brand, just be yourself.

Another thing to think about - is that Twitter will squeeze your photo into a 73x73 pixel square for your profile page, so maybe submit a photograph that is already cropped into a square.

Submit a larger photo (but not smaller), by all means; as this will be seen when people click on your profile image. Just be careful that the picture is not too large, if you've taken the effort to create a stunning Twitter background in the next step.


Design

If you're really serious about branding yourself on Twitter, this is the place to polish it off.

You can change design colours to match the feel of your own website and, with a little imagination, you can make your Twitter background say almost anything about you.

Instead of using a logo, house or landscape on your profile picture, you can incorporate these sort of images here.

Getting the background image looking right can be a little tricky though, as it aligns top left and the content scrolling over your background image will vary depending on screen resolution and size.

Put the most important visual information in the first 245 pixels of the left column.

You can test how the background will look in different screen resolutions here (in Firefox Browser).

In most cases, choosing 'tile background' will not be the option you wish to select.

If you're not comfortable creating an original background image, Twitbacks offer a free service - with a little free branding for them thrown in.


Branding Yourself

Even if your goal on Twitter is to get more people to stay in your holiday home, use your travel agency, or visit your website, getting them interested in you (and what you can share) should probably be your first priority.

Once people are interested in you, the person, they may recommend 'what you're about' to their friends or followers later.

As more and more people follow through to your profile, make the most of this opportunity to get them interested in you.

Present a human image of yourself and use all aspects of your profile page to represent you better.

Then all you need to worry about is making an even bigger impression, with your tweets.

When I first looked around Twitter, I was a little overwhelmed by all the noise.

Searching for tweets about travel, or users with travel in their name on their profile, was easy enough; especially once I added the search to the TravelNotes Toolbar.

Note:
Searching for 'a term used in tweets' or 'name on user profiles' are two separate processes and meant going to different pages on Twitter to perform the search.

As a power user, I can now highlight a word on the page, and quickly switch the toolbar search - to get to my destination faster.

Try it!


Why The TravelTweet Directory

I'm sure there are already plenty of blog posts and lists around devoted to certain Twitter interests and 'top people' to follow; even software and websites specifically set up to try and help you choose who to follow - mostly based on 'popularity': MrTweet, Twitterholic, and Twitter Grader, for example.

If you just want to follow people that thousands of other people follow, it's easy enough to do (by following the 'followers'); but I didn't really see anything helpful that looked at travel and sorted the Twitter users into meaningful categories; to assist those looking for the 'right people' for them!

That's why I decided to try and make some of the travel twitter listings more meaningful, by sorting the Travel Companies and Travel Tweeters - by category.

The list is by no means complete; but as I continue adding to the TravelTweet Directory, I hope you find it useful.


Travel Companies on Twitter

Travel Companies are sorted according to the field they work in, to make it easier to find them.

As well as a direct link to their Twitter page, there's an @Link; where you can automatically tweet them (if you have a Twitter account and are logged-in).


Travel Tweeters

Travel Tweeters are individuals, listed by location.

Hopefully, if you need travel advice about a certain location, they'll answer your call for help.

You can tweet them by clicking on their photo or go to their profile by clicking on the link.


Getting Listed on the TravelTweet Directory

To stand a chance of being listed, the travel tweeters will need to have a photo on their profile, along with name, location and bio revealed.

After all, it helps to know who's doing the twittering; from where.

Listings are not subject to a TravelTweet following in any way (although you might get listed quicker if you do follow me), nor is having a Twitter presence a guarantee of a listing.

It's what you're doing with your Twitter account and your twittering coverage related to travel in general (or your location) that counts.

You can Send a Tweet to me on Twitter, whether you're following me or not; but you will need a Twitter account.


TravelTweet

Technorati Tags: Twitter, travel, directory.

Useful Twitter Tools on The TravelNotes Toolbar:

As tweets need to be under 140 characters in length, it makes sense to use an URL shortening service when posting links to something worth tweeting about.

We have added tinyurl and bit.ly to the Travel Notes toolbar; so that users can create a short URL when they are visiting a page they want to Twitter about.

The bit.ly service even lets you track clicks (just put a + after the link).

These are located in the drop-down Travel menu - then Web Tools.

Long URL Please is also in there; handy for revealing all those shortened URLs - posted by others - when you're on a Twitter page.

And just to complete the experience; with 'Twitter' selected from the search box choices, you can easily search tweets when you're on another website.

You may also choose to search for 'Twitter Users'; and even select to 'Tweet From Toolbar' when a thought occurs to you (or highlight text on a webpage and press go).

You could even leave the 'Tweet From Toolbar' search field blank and press go, to tweet that you're tweeting from the toolbar.

To get to your own Twitter page from the toolbar, clear the toolbar search box and - with Twitter selected - just press go.

Toolbar users can also search bit.ly, Blinkx, Brightcove, Clip Syndicate, Daily Motion, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Gmail, MySpace, Technorati, Travelistic, TurnHere, WhosTalkin? and You Tube - as well as a host of travel-related sources.

Not to mention listen to Live Streaming Internet Radio and watch popular tv programs for free.

Just message me on Twitter (or through the toolbar) if you'd like to see anything else added.

Download The TravelNotes Toolbar.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, toolbar