Websites & Twitter-

Still living in the shadows of ill health with low confidence, my journey as a blogger and user of Face Book had just begun.

Websites and social media were still names with little meaning, a foreign universe to me.

As my writing, blogging and creativity developed I wondered how to grow my fan base. Perhaps a website would allow me to spread the net, build my tribe and generate more interest. A website would enable me to upload my blogs and update fresh content, daily or weekly, engage with and add more value for my readers.

Using links from my website to social media platforms was an opportunity to connect. A light bulb moment, the potential seemed endless.

I sought professional help, my first website was created over four years ago.

I researched the value and influence of Twitter as a social media platform on Google- I have since learned that Twitter is now used for research more than ever before.

For Twitter I was advised to have a home page with a stand out header, a photo and a brief attention grabbing Bio. I learned how to write ‘quality content’ (Twitter-speak), in 140 characters or less. A challenge to keep it short while delivering a relevant message.

In April 2013, I started to listen to The Business Bunker Radio Show (@businessbunker)every Tuesday 1-3:00pm broadcast from Kent UK.
From my mountain retreat in Turkey, I followed Paul Andrews (@vanillaweb) and Jules Serkin (@JulesSerkin). We started to communicate via posts, comments, retweets on and off air.

In August 2013 back in Blighty, I was invited by Paul Andrews onto the show to talk about my first book, due to be published within a few months. It sealed the power of Twitter and the positive relationship we continue to have, supporting each other.

Excited by the progress I was creating via twitter, my tweets were in effect mini-blog posts.
Once I brought together the photo and the tweet I achieved greater impact. In this era of social media the visual that includes the best quality photos and now ‘video’ is paramount if you wish your tweets to come alive and connect instantly with your followers.

This link is a favourite if mine, a great example of how it works:-
https://twitter.com/KenHerron/status/635158313987129344

By consistently scheduling at regular times, daily, quality content posts (2-3 max) and photos, it gave me access to some credible global opportunities.

Twitter was proving to have impact for me as a newly published author, blogger and speaker, another successful window to the world of social media reach.

Thanks to Paul Andrews, I was introduced to Ken Herron (@KenHerron), then to Carol McManus (@linkedinlady).
I continue to be a regular listener to :- The Social Solutions Show with Carol and Ken (Wednesdays at: https://modernlifepodcastnetwork.com/socialsolutions/).

I was thrilled to be a guest on the LinkedIn Lady Show July 2015 with Carol who is based in Connecticut (USA /@linkedinlady )

In 2015 Ken Herron (@KenHerron) introduced me to Laura Steward and in March 2016, I was a guest on her show “It’s All about the Questions” (@The LauraSteward) based in Florida.

What have I learned using Twitter:-
Capture and inspire your followers with your words and moments in time.
Patience is key, arm yourself with the information you need for each social media platform. Seek only true ‘professionals’ for guidance. Target your audience and groups and if they are on Twitter then you must be too.

Next week Part 3 : How I took on the challenge of Hashtags!