8 Ways to Build Your Brand on Twitter

Twitter is one of the most common social media tools and can be incredibly powerful in helping you build your brand and catapult it to the next level.

Once you figure out your career/personal goals and have an understanding of the brand you want to build for yourself, be sure to take advantage of what Twitter has to offer.

Here are eight ways you can build a great brand for yourself through Twitter:

1. Choose the Right Twitter Handle

Choosing a Twitter handle is very important and more often than not, people will identify you by your Twitter handle rather than your real name. For that reason, most people will choose variations of their own name for their Twitter handle. However, if you already have a brand "name" built for yourself or your business outside of Twitter, you might want to consider using that for your Twitter handle since people already recognize you by that name.

You could also use a combination of your own name and your "brand", but be sure to not make it too long. I have two Twitter accounts - @thinkmaya - which is my own brand and @memetales which is the name of my company. I have been extremely happy with the @thinkmaya Twitter handle - it is quirky but also has a part of my name in it. Thinkmaya is also my ID on Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn and almost every other site.

2. Bio and Link

In the bio section of your Twitter page, be sure to add a clear and concise bio and a link to a more detailed page on your website.  Don't make people work to hard to understand who you are.

Tools such as Twellow will scan your Twitter profile when people search through Twitter profiles, so be sure to use words that define you. For example - if you want to come up when people search for handmade jewelry, be sure to include that in your profile.

3. Twitter Background

Your twitter landing page has real estate that you can use to enhance your brand as well. I have a picture of myself with the logo/name of my startup on my Twitter background. Several authors such as Gretchen Rubin promote their books on their Twitter backgrounds. Although it is questionable as to how many people actually look at your twitter background, it is still a a great way to create a good first impression.

4. Consistency Check

Consider asking yourself a few questions before every tweet you send out. For my personal account, I ask myself if I am tweeting about social media, technology or just engaging with people. For my business account, I ask myself if every tweet belongs to children's books/crafts, children's media and/or parenting categories.

More often than not, I don't tweet anything that falls outside of these categories unless I'm engaging with people in a conversation. This really helps me keep a consistent brand. If Twitter is a channel for you to engage, then feel free to do that. As long as you're consistent and people know what to expect from your Twitter stream, it will enhance your brand.

5. Create Twitter Lists

Creating and sharing Twitter lists are both a way to provide value to your followers and establish your authority in a certain space or field. Robert Scoble or @Scobelizer, a technology enthusiast and blogger has a number of technology related lists that are followed by hundreds of people. Think of what lists you can create to enhance your brand.

6. Connect with People

A big part of any brand is being personable. No matter what your brand is or what field you're in, people are always more attractive when they engage with others and share more than just interesting links. If you're a creative, use Twitter to share behind the scenes information, pictures of your studio or workspace, etc. This will help you connect with real people while also establishing yourself as a "real" person.

7. Take it Offline

The best way to catapult your brand using Twitter is to go to offline events or Tweetups to meet people you first "met" on Twitter. If there are no Tweetups around your field of interest, just organize one. Twtvite is a simple but great way to organize Tweetups. If you are  a crafter/painter, consider organizing a monthly Tweetup of crafters/painters in your area.

8. Participate in Hashtag Chats

Online hashtag Twitter chats are a great way to meet people interested in learning and engaging around a certain topic. #gno is a weekly "girls-night-out" chat around a certain topic. There are several chats including #journchat, #prchat etc. Joining a chat or even organizing your own chat is a great way to get known.

How have you used Twitter to enhance your brand?

Maya Bisineer is a technologist, entrepreneur and founder of Memetales - a platform to share and experience children's stories. She is on the board of Social Media Club, Seattle and frequently runs workshops on Social Media. As you might guess, she has mostly relied on social media to build her own brand. She was recently named as one of the top 25 Seattle business women to follow on Twitter.

Main image courtesy of  Laughing Squid