Get Daily “ClutterTweetTips” & Top Ten Twitter Tips

I have been experimenting with doing a daily organizing tip on Twitter since early July, and it’s getting great feedback and lots of followers! If you want to see these tips every morning, you can "follow me" on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/clutterdiet.

Here are some examples of our ClutterTweetTips:

• Buying towels- either color code for each bathrm, or just go hotel-style with all white. Easier to put away!
• To avoid breakage, use heavy duty trash bags for your organizing projects, at least 1.1 mil in thickness.
• Create "modules" for commonly used items in your purse or briefcase w/clear zippered pouches to transfer easily.
• Do you have a headset for your office phone? Greatly increases productivity and reduces neck strain too.

If you have no idea what Twitter is, watch this cool video from Common Craft (click here if you can’t see the embedded video player). Essentially, Twitter is like a mini-blog.

My top ten Twitter tips for new users:

1. Don’t feel like you have to "follow" everyone who follows you. It’s really okay. You can’t possibly follow everyone; you’d never be able to read it all. Make your own "policies" about this, like you’ll only follow people if you know them personally, or whatever works for you. It’s kind of like deciding who can be your friend in Facebook.
2. Reply to other people by using the @ symbol. If you wanted to comment on one of my tips, you could say "@clutterdiet Thanks for the tip!"
3. Notice the "Replies" tab. Many people don’t realize there is a tab called "Replies," right in the middle of your home page when you’re logged in. (The four tabs say, "Recent, "Replies," "Archive," and "Everyone.") The Replies tab compiles messages meant for you to read that include your name with the @ symbol, as I said above in tip #2. It’s important to check this!
4. Find someone who is popular on Twitter and read what they write. You’ll see usually a nice mix of personal info, funny stuff, and useful information. If someone just writes what they ate for dinner and nothing else, that is not going to be very interesting.
5. Posts on Twitter are called "Tweets," and people on Twitter are "Tweeple" or "Tweeters." There is also a whole world out there of third party applications/sites that do something neat-o for Twitter, like Twhirl and Summize (now known as http://search.twitter.com).
6. Your Tweets have to be 140 characters or less, so if you need to put a link in them, use a shortening service like www.tinyurl.com to make the links into fewer characters. Writing only this many characters makes you a better writer– it’s kind of like writing a haiku sometimes when you have to keep tweaking it to make it work!
7. RT or Retweet means you are posting something again, either something you already did earlier, or you are rebroadcasting something another person has tweeted, for a larger/different audience. If I like something someone else posted, I might RT it because I want my followers to know and want to give credit to the original poster.
8. You can Tweet from your cell phone via text message to 40404. (You do have to set this up initially in your profile) When I first got on Twitter, this was the most fun part to me… just capturing things that happen in my day!  I once Tweeted how a peacock had just crossed the road in front of my car. I also have Tweeted speeches I am listening to, like one Peter Walsh gave at the NAPO conference.
9. Remember that what you write is permanently in the public eye, so think twice before Tweeting. If you say you hate your boss on Twitter, guess what…? He or she might find out you said that.
10. Surf around and search for people in your industry, foods and products you like, and friends. See who people are following, and see who is following them. You might be surprised! Companies are Tweeting a lot now, some offering coupons and other inside info. I like following @cnn and @statesman for breaking news, for example.

It’s a lot of fun! Comment here and tell us how YOU use Twitter. And, if you like, feel free to add your Twitter username to the comment so other readers can follow you!