How to Cure Twitter Block

by Mark Havenner on Apr. 6, 2009 · 18 comments

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Twitter can be foreboding. One logs in, takes a look at that ominous “What are you doing?” question and may think What am I doing? And that person may not have an answer. Sitting there? Drinking water? Procrastinating on a project?

Looking for something to discuss, the “Twitter-blocked” may browse through the main feed searching for inspiration.

Stanlopez forget about it.

Covid Lance Armstrong broke his collar bone.

Xfdgg TOP 10 WAYS TO GET 10000 FOLLOWERS IN JUST 1 WEEK!!!!

Ronmalone My 12-year-old is great at Photoshop!

Xfdgg TOP 10 WAYS TO GET 10000 FOLLOWERS IN JUST 1 WEEK!!!!

Mikehilton Time to close the laptop.

Xfdgg TOP 10 WAYS TO GET 10000 FOLLOWERS IN JUST 1 WEEK!!!!

Nothing.

The Twitter-blocked may look around the office hoping for something to tweet about. Color of the walls maybe–or perhaps how quickly the coffee has gotten cold. Nothing is clicking.

The Twitter-blocked is generally not using Twitter to talk about “coffee” or “sitting there,” instead he/she uses Twitter to build a brand presence.

The Twitter-blocked understands that endless tweets about the brand won’t work and that there needs be a genuine connection with the Twitter community. A trusted network builds meaningful relationships, thereby strengthening the brand. Sounds easy, right?

But what to tweet about?

When I have “Twitter-block”, I resort to my personal C.R.A.S.H. formula:

Comment

Every time you go into Twitter, tweet something. Anything.

It could be Good morning, Twitter or Sitting down to start my day, or anything benign.

Just write.

Once you do that, the rest comes easy.

The hardest part of filling out a blank page is writing the first sentence. Just get something out and be natural. Twitter isn’t always about broadcasting your brand; sometimes you can just talk. Casual conversation builds trust within your network and identifies that the brand is supported by real people. It is easier for people to connect with a person than it is for them to connect with a logo or product.

Reply

Reply to someone. Find a tweet and reply to it.

It doesn’t have to be Shakespearean. Just say something like:

@neatfollower Good point!

@hungryfollower Yeah, pizza sounds good now.

@Xfdgg Why do I need 10,000 followers?

Ask

Ask a question.

The question could be something like: How does one get past Twitter-block?

Or it could be a discussion question about your industry.

Or something personal like What is going on with all of you today?

Questions encourage conversation and the more people that you respond to, the more conversations evolve.

Check your @replies frequently and make sure that you aren’t missing out on connecting with someone.

Share

Share something.

Either tweet a link for a blog you’ve read or retweet something interesting someone else said.

You can pipe in many RSS feeds into FriendFeed and easily post them on Twitter straight from there. You can even tie your blog into FriendFeed so that it tweets whenever there is a new post. There are Twitter applets and Firefox apps that will help you tweet from wherever you are browsing.

Make it a habit to simply share what you find as you find it. Link retweets are the most popular type of tweet for a reason. Most people are there to find news and websites, and if you post interesting things people will notice you more.

Help

Help people.

Use Twitter Search (or a third-party search system such as Monitter or any of the Twitter desktop applications) and find conversations that you can contribute to.

Search by whatever your expertise is and jump in–give advice, help people that are asking questions and peddle your smarts.

Use hashtags on your topics so that they reach a broader base of people, such as:

Writing press releases is good for your SEO! #PR #SEO

When you use hashtags, the tweet shows up in a feed on Twitter Search, which many people follow.

Using the C.R.A.S.H. formula once a day keeps you a valuable and contributing member of Twitter. Leveraging your own expertise and the benefits of your brand in each of those steps will build awareness. But most importantly, C.R.A.S.H. will help you get rid of that dreaded Twitter-block.

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Tagged as: Twitter

This article was written by Mark Havenner.

Mark Havenner is an account manager at The Pollack PR Marketing Group, a mid-sized, Los Angeles-based, consumer products-oriented integrated PR and marketing agency. Here is the corporate blog. You can tweet Mark at @havenner.