There’s nothing worse than walking into a room full of people who all seem to know each other, and nobody knows you. Jumping into the breach and engaging with strangers is daunting, and more often than not you end up standing in the corner, trying to look busy.

The same goes for social media – particularly Twitter, which is the most “conversational” of the main social media platforms.  The most common reason I hear from people about why they don’t use Twitter is that they simply don’t know where to start and what to Tweet about.

 If you’re in a similar position, here are 4 top tips for you:

Embrace small-talk

Something I’ve heard a lot over the last few years in objection to using Twitter is “nobody want’s to know that I’ve just walked the dog”.  It’s an understandable point, but the thing is, it’s the mundane stuff like this upon which conversations are built.  Think about the last time you went to a networking meeting – what were your first conversations like when you walked through the door?  Most likely things like the weather, what the traffic was like on your way there, how badly you need a coffee etc.  Safe, surface-level small talk.  Twitter is no different; while there are some quality conversations happening, they’re padded out by the mundane stuff.  So if you’re not sure what to tweet, then tweet about what it is you’re doing, or what you’re thinking – don’t overanalyse the small stuff, just be natural with it; you’re personality will come out better that way and while you’re not likely to have crowds of people flocking to ask you about the cup of tea you’ve just made, you’re making yourself visible, and you’d be surprised with how the most insignificant things can spark conversations.

Find common ground

This is a useful one to keep in mind not just for coming up with “stuff” to say, but also finding people to connect with.  It’s assumed you have an interest, a passion, a hobby – and unless you’re particularly partial to making cauliflower sandwiches while snowboarding nude then chances are there’s at least one other person in the world who shares your interests.  Twitter makes it easy for you to find people who are talking about the sort of things which are relevant to you by simply searching for a topic.  If you’re a designer, find other designers – if you’re into fishing, search for people talking about fishing.  You’ll find a variety of conversations in full swing, and unlike a “pub” setting there’s no downside to jumping right in – in fact in most cases people will welcome it.

I mention 4Networking occasionally in my blogs and videos – it’s a UK business networking organisation I’m a member of, and unlike other companies of their like, they’re fully embraced online networking and social media.  To that end, whenever people tweet about 4Networking, they typically “tag” their comments with #4N.  That gives an extremely easy way for a new member of that organisation to search for this tag (“hashtag”) and find other members to connect with and talk to.

That common ground gives you an easy place to start or join a conversation – or to post something that will get people talking to you.  With the #4N example, if you connect with a bunch of other members, then you’ll know that tweeting something with “#4N” is going to be noticed.

Help someone out

I don’t mean offer to go round their house and babysit their kids – there are far easier ways to “help” people on Twitter.  If someone posts an opinion, a link to a blog, a question etc then they’ll be grateful to anyone who can help spread their message further.  Twitter gives you the ability to “retweet” what someone else has written – akin to “forwarding” an email on to your own list of followers.  Doing this kills two birds with one stone – it’s “content” you’re putting out there to your followers, and it builds your social capital (“brownie points”) with the person you’ve helped, often presenting you with an opportunity to engage with them further.

It also shows people that you’re helpful, and in turn will likely make them more inclined to help you out in future too.  So keep an eye out for people asking questions or tweeting about a particular piece of news etc – don’t just blindly retweet everything without a seconds thought – but be mindful of the upside of wanting to help.

Share interesting content

This is where social media becomes a powerful marketing tool rather than just a way to make virtual friends.  Content is currency when it comes to online marketing, and Twitter is a fantastic way to get that content out there.  If you’ve written a blog, published a video, contributed to a particularly interesting forum post, or have any other interesting content which you could share with the world, then tweeting the link out is a must.

Quick note: don’t just tweet the link without saying what it is – I’ve seen many people doing that!  Instead tweet something like “If you’ve ever been stuck for what to tweet about, this blog may help: www.blahblah.com”

Social Media is a great delivery vehicle for your content, so if you’re sitting scratching your head about what to tweet, all the while you’ve got a stack of brilliant articles on your website, then you need to start linking to them!  It doesn’t have to be new stuff either – of course tweet links to new blogs or videos etc, but pull some quality articles from the archives and link to those too.

People are far more inclined to click a link they see from someone on Twitter than they are on, say, a forum – because Twitter moves so quickly they’re worried they’re missing out!

And don’t just tweet the link out once and then forget it – mention it a few times over the course of the week as chances are not everyone will have seen it.  So Monday morning you may say “Check out our new blog post…”, Wednesday evening it could be “Did you see our new blog post…”, Friday morning it’s “For anyone who missed it, here’s our new blog post…” and so on.

A little content goes a long way to not only building your expertise and giving people a reason to connect and engage with you; but to also giving you a message to get out there and something to say other than “walking the dog LOL”.

So, I do hope this has helped any of you out there with “Tweeters Block” to identify ways in which you can get stuck in to Twitter and start the ball rolling on making connections.  What other challenges do you find with Twitter?  Is there anything else which puts you off using it?  If you’re a “seasoned” tweeter, how long did it take you to get to grips with it, or did you just jump right in?  I’d love to hear any thoughts or contributions in the comments section below!