On twitter, people chose to follow you or not based on who you are. The first glimpse that they see? Your twitter profile. To maximize your positive impression, you should make a top notch profile. The following 4 pieces make up your profile.

1. Username -Do not pick something “unique and creative.” People want usernames that are easy to use. The case does not matter in searches, but I recommend either all lower case or only upper case on the first letters of the names. Some good options:
   1. Firstname and lastname: JohnSmith
   2. First initial and last name (if you have a long first name): gsmith
   3. First name and last initial (if you have a really long last name): JohnK
   4. A couple usernames to be careful of:
      1. If your first name ends with the same letter as the start of your last name, it can look weird, ex: SarahHart
      2. Your combination forms a word by mistake; ex: SIckley
      3. Creating a name with numbers in it: sarah408. Even if you did it because it is your zip code or area code, it looks spammy. Anything you can do to avoid looking spammy is a good thing.
2. Biography - We will start with your more info URL. This is the link to your blog or website. Make sure that it is correct and goes to a page that you want them to see…maybe even create a special page for your twitter followers to find! The second piece is your actual biography. The biography is the little snippit people get about you before they choose to follow you back. This should include both business and a bit of personal detail. It has to be fewer than 160 characters, so make it short and sweet.
3. Picture - This is the first way you will be judged. This picture should be of you, your face, in a business manner. Make sure it is easy to see and reflects you in a good light. People notice the effort you put in, and your picture is a great tell. Good pictures are easy to notice, they are smiling, it is a bright photo and the focus is on the face. If you don’t have a good headshot, have one taken. Once you have decided on the photo that you want, open it with a photo program like Microsoft picture viewer. Crop it to be a square photo. Save the picture as a square. Go back to your twitter page and click browse and select the file from your computer you want to use.
4. Background - Your twitter background should be creative, unique and give people a good glimpse of who you are. Much like a website design, it should be well thought out and shouldn’t be generic. We recommend talking with your web designer and working with them to create a perfect look for you. If you want just a simple design, you can either upload an image or choose colors from the options. We recommend changing it from the generic one right away.

If you follow all these steps, you will be on your way to having a great twitter profile that people want to follow!