I’m going to assume that you know what tweets are, what following someone means (no, it’s not like stalking), what Twitter is, and that you know whether or not you should be using it and for what reason. I know what can happen when you assume, but for time and web space I’m going to do it anyway.
This is a super basic “How To” guide, if you want to get more in depth, check out How to REALLY Set Up a Twitter Account (this is coming soon, but will be linked once it’s in existence).
Follow these steps in order:
1. Open your favorite web browser.
2. Type the following URL into the address bar https://twitter.com/signup.
3. In the “Full Name” field, enter your full name.
4. In the “Email” field, enter the email address you want to have associated with your Twitter account. This is the address that Twitter will send important messages (like password resets) and updates (new people who are following you on Twitter and alerts when other Twitter users send you a direct message), so choose wisely.
5. In the “Password” field, enter the password that you would like to use to access your Twitter account. *Make sure you keep a record of this somewhere, especially if you’re not using Twitter regularly. Twitter requires that your password be at least 6 characters. It will let you know if you choose a password that doesn’t meet the requirements. It will also show you a green bar that will give you an idea of how strong (not likely to be figured out by hackers) your password is. You can increase password strength by using a mix of capital letters, numbers, and special characters (-, _, =, +, etc).
6. In the “Username” field, enter the username that you would like to be associated with your account. This is the name that other Twitter users will see when they look at your profile or at your tweets. There is a 15 character limit for usernames, so you will have to choose one that fits in the box. Twitter will check the availability of the username you choose and give you an error message if someone else has already registered that username.
7. Click the “Create my account” button at the bottom of the screen.
8. You may or may not be asked to fill in a captcha field to make sure you are a real person.
9. Then, navigate through Twitter’s setup. 1.) explaining what a tweet is, 2.) choosing at least 5 people to follow (don’t worry too much, you can always unfollow them later), 3.) adding at least 5 favorites (which are really just choosing 5 more accounts to follow), and then 4.) a request to access your email account to connect with people in your address book (you can choose “skip this step at the bottom of the sidebar on the right).
10. Twitter will send you an email to confirm your email address (which you must do before you will be allowed to use all of Twitter’s features), so check your email, and click the confirmation link. Clicking the link should take you right back into your new Twitter account with a drop down message that lets you know your account has been confirmed.
11. Start tweeting.
That’s all there is to it. Post any questions/issues as comments, and I’ll be happy to help out as much as I can.
Happy tweeting.
The best way to start is by not doing it.Wait! Wait!This isn’t one of those anti-Twitter posts. The reason I say to not do is it becsuae you need to think first.* Think about the business* Think about keywords related to the company* Think about brandingSo many people put up a new account without much appropriate thought first. I hope you wuoldn’t just hang any ole single outside a brick and mortar business, so why do it on Twitter?This is how that looks with my @BodyByChocolate profile.You’ll notice some very key things about my profile.1. A defining picuture2. A catchy profile name3. Keyword rich bio4. Link to my websiteI also have an interesting looking background rather than just sticking with the standard gig. You can use one of these types of services for that.===>===>===>===>===>Also, I would not be without the Twitter app that I use to tweet longer than 140 characters as well as posting videos, audios, graphics and whatever else I fancy. The Twitter app is called TwitWall and here is what mine looks like.===>That should getting you headed in the right direction. Feel free to ask @BodyByChocolate more questions about Twitter any time.The Body By Chocolate ManTWITTER:WEBSITE:
Alan,
Great info, and so true. It’s also important to look at how/if Twitter fits in with your social media strategy before committing the time to set up an account. This post is more to show the very basic setup.
Note: If you’ve forgotten your account’s password, the Twitter for iPad app does not allow you to reset your password from the app. You will need to go to twitter.com on a computer and follow the troubleshooting steps on this page to recover it.
A “Follow Freely” box with options of people/ businesses /organizations to follow will appear in the next screen. Once you choose to follow any Twitter account, you will then receive “tweets” from that account. (When the account holder posts a message, it will appear on your twitter page.) If you already know the Twitter handles of your friends or clients, type them into the search box under ‘who to follow’ or ‘find friends.’ Twitter will automatically make general suggestions of handles you may like to follow like celebrities, businesses, publications, and more! Once you have finished, click next for more following options.