You may not know this yet, but there is a limit to how many of your fellow tweeters you can follow. I found out the hard way.

As a writer, I am a good observer. So when I joined Twitter, I watched how other writers handled their accounts. Writers follow (and are followed by) each other in droves. Some paranormal e-book authors follow 60,000 or more people. I began aggressively following other writers and literati thinking there was no limit to the inspiration available.

I was wrong.

“ Twitter limits following behavior [because] these limits help us improve site performance and reliability and help us make Twitter a nice place for everyone.” —Twitter

Aggressive is a bad word for Twitter. They use the word 4 times (out of 456 words) on their Following Rules and Best Practices Page. And never in a good way.

But when I say I follow other writers aggressively, I mean actively. I’ve sought out people with shared interests. A lot of them. Since June, I’ve followed 2,000 people I wanted to learn more about. And therein lies the problem. Twitter says I can’t follow anyone else until I have more followers. Here’s why that doesn’t make Twitter a nicer place for me.

I believe in the limits of my own importance

Being merely one human out of nearly 7,000,000,000 on this planet, I expect to notice more people than notice me. I think it’s weird when people have nearly the same number of followers as following—as if they are in a followback loop where they only want to know about people who like them first.

I currently follow three times as many people as follow me. I don’t think that’s because I’m boring. It’s because I like listening more than talking. Plus my following list covers many different topics and those tweeps may not share my interests.

Here’s who I follow and why:

• Marketers like SEO Chicks give me tips to do my day job better. Foreign marketers like Why Not Blue refresh my language skills while teaching me about SEO Montreal-style.
• A Dangerous Business and other travel bloggers fuel my dreams of someday using those language skills again.
• I learn about the publishing industry from agents, publishers, reviewers, and lit zines. I like being reminded of the people behind the good work at places like Melville House and Dalkey Archive.
• Other writers share my struggles and triumphs. Tweeting to Sarah Martinez about how much I enjoyed her book launch is a “thanks for the invite” and good promo for her.
• Visual artists and musicians offer different looks at creativity. BOMB Magazine posts archive interviews that hit all the right notes.
• Popular blogs like Huffington Post make sure I’m not totally clueless on the happenings of the world.
• Washington State DOT, Seattle Police, and local media give me the news I need right now.
• My friends and I support and promote each other in Twitter and real life. Ann Hedreen, Liza Wolff-Francis, Icess Fernandez, and Kim Brown all keep me grounded.

Most of those people will never follow me back. I don’t expect them to. But to get to follower/following parity which Twitter seems to want, I need a wide variety of strangers to follow me that I don’t plan to follow back. That just isn’t me…

I believe in community

I follow back. Not indiscriminately, but if you want to take time to get to know me, I’d like to get to know you too. We can do that on Facebook, but unfortunately you’ll have to make the first move on Twitter (and wait until I hit some magical unpublished ratio—PR and the Social Web says the magic formula is number of followers plus 10%—that means I can follow you back).

Although our day to day importance in each other’s lives may be small, I’m still glad to connect. The world is a lonely place without connections.

I believe in serendipity

Twitter is like Penn Station at rush hour. Somewhere in the cacophony is a voice telling an interesting story (a lot of them really), and I believe that Fate (and a little judgment on my part) will point me in the direction of the information and inspiration I crave. These “random” interactions prevent creative stagnation.

I believe in you

I don’t dump people I follow without good reason. Three or four tweets about how no one likes you or how you are the only important person in the word will get you dumped. And I block spammers. But mostly you’ll find me a pretty open and generous audience. Which means it’s nearly impossible to winnow down my following list so I can follow new people.

What do I do now?

Can I get around this follower limit? Yes. I could start dumping people I don’t LOVE (but I won’t). Or I could build lists of people I am interested in but don’t follow and then set up a stream in HootSuite, but why should I have to? Why should it be so difficult?

”If you’ve reached the account-based follow limit (2,000 users), you’ll need to wait until you yourself have more followers before you can follow additional users.” —Twitter

I can accept that I have to sit out following for a while (not that I have any choice). But it annoys the crap out of me that I can’t take an active aggressive role in building my Twitter feed. So, Destiny…will I get more followers or is everything I need already in my feed?

Are you wildly inspired by too many tweeps? How do you handle your follower/following ratio?

The post Why I Hate the Twitter Follow Limit appeared first on Portent.

Our class differences didn’t matter in that perfect moment, and it seemed like our love was meant to last forever. She even let me sketch her in the nude, which was basically awesome. The only reason our love never worked out was my death in 1912.

True, that’s actually the plot of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, but it still illustrates my point that first impressions are important. And that’s exactly what I’m talking about for Twitter Tuesday.

First Impressions on Twitter

One Twitter feature I haven’t seen much buzz around is the profile summary you see when you click on someone’s Twitter handle. It used to be that a click on someone’s handle would take you directly to their profile – now, before you can click through to someone’s complete profile, you’ll see this cute little profile summary pop up.

Isn’t that lovely? Yes. Yes it is.

That profile summary is how people first meet you. It’s your short resume. Your elevator pitch.

The Elements of Your Twitter Profile Summary

So let’s take a look at what people are going to see about you when they reach this profile summary. There are some steps you can take to optimize your Twitter profile for this.

Twitter Profile Picture

Your profile picture is the only true image in your profile summary, and it even appears four times — so you know it’s the most important part.

And you know how I feel about profile pictures. Your profile picture matters most on Twitter, where people only know you by your short sentences and picture. Find a great headshot, or something that represents your Twitter personality.

Twitter Bio

Your Twitter profile summary comes up when someone clicks on your name. And why would someone click on your name? Because they want to know more about you. And more importantly – because they’re looking for a reason to follow you. Give them a reason!

Having a great Twitter bio is a great place to give that reason. There is a lot you can do with your 160 character bio to tell people who you are. My main advice is to be original. So I’ll leave that difficult task up to you, and just list some things people don’t want to see in your bio:

• A bunch of hashtags and links. You get this when people try to jam everything into their bio and don’t consider how it looks to the rest of us. While they’re happy because they fit in #SEM, #SEO, #PPC and links to both of their websites – I’m avoiding their spammy bio like the plague (which was caused by rats carrying fleas using hashtags).
• “Tweets are my own.” Who else’s tweets would they be? And what does this possibly “protect” you from? Professionals see this in other bios and think they’re supposed to say it too. That’s the only explanation for this stupid trend. You’ve only got 160 characters and you’re wasting them.
• Too many buzz words. If your bio is full of clichéd, overused phrases from your industry… well, you don’t sound like a very interesting person to me.

Social Proof

And back to Ellen DeGeneres’ profile summary. Nothing like some good, old-fashioned social proof to convince people you’re worth a follow, right? In your profile summary, we’ve got:

• Followed by: This field shows users whom they follow that follow you. This leads to conclusions like, “Oh, my friend Karen follows Ellen DeGeneres, and Karen is smart and cool. So I should follow Ellen DeGeneres.”
• Follow numbers: This shows how wide of a net you cast, and how involved you are in the Twitter community. And no – you don’t need 12 million followers like Ellen for someone to want to follow you. It is actually the relationship between your followers and the number of people you’re following that will say the most about your profile.

Follow Numbers

What do your follow numbers say about you?

• Followed >>> Following: You’re a top influencer. People will follow you if they like what you have to say.
• Followed > Following: You’re a wise voice, but you don’t have celebrity status. People may just want to hear what you have to say, but they will also want to engage.
• Followed < Following: You’re a peer. People will follow you to be followed back so you can engage.
• Followed <<< Following: You’re a spam bot.

Your Last Three Tweets

The final main attribute of your profile summary is the section containing your last three tweets. This won’t show your retweets, but @ replies do show up.

This is the hardest section of your profile summary to optimize. Your last three tweets might perfectly represent your presence on Twitter. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to stop tweeting. It’s best not to stress about this too much – just focus on good tweeting and it won’t be an issue.

Additional Profile Summary Details

There is a little more going on in your Twitter profile summary that I haven’t mentioned yet:

• Your name and @ handle. Use your real name if you want people to be able to find you. Not a lot to say here.
• Location. You should definitely include your location – it helps connect with people in your area. We don’t need your address, but a city would be nice.
• Website. Including a link to your website is excellent. If you’ve got two, put one in your bio (but don’t over-do it).
• #of tweets. I don’t believe people pay much attention to this number. Without the context of how long you’ve been on Twitter, it doesn’t really mean anything. As long as you have more than 100 tweets, we’ll know you’re not a spam bot.

Do It to It

This post isn’t just about optimizing your profile summary – it’s about understanding the first impression you give on Twitter. Whether it’s the details you can edit or the ones beyond your control, you should know what you look like when you walk out onto the Twitter field.

How do you make a good first impression on Twitter? Let us know in the comments. Oh, and retweet me if someone you love needs to read this post.

Are you making the right first impression on Twitter? portent.co/PmT7Sx

— jack martin (@jackthemartin) August 14, 2012

The post Are You Making the Right First Impression on Twitter? appeared first on Portent.

If Mitt Romney really is right and corporations are people, then they sure don’t act like it on Twitter. And that’s too bad. People don’t want to do business with a business; people want to do business with people. And that must be true, because it is cleverly worded.

Here are seven tips for improving your business’s Twitter.

Human beings for the win

No one likes being advertised to by a faceless corporation, so how about making your business’s Twitter a little more personable?

Starbucks uses their profile info to show that they’re not a business, but just a close group of friends who like to sell you coffee.

Even AXE, a brand I’m not too fond of, does a great job of personalizing their tweets by adding the signature of a member of their social team.

AXE Nation… Happy Record Store Day!!! Now get out there support your local shop! -DanwithAXE

— AXE (@AXE) April 21, 2012

Don’t overuse hashtags

I see a lot of businesses overusing hashtags. The strategy here is that by including relevant hashtags in a tweet, you can reach people searching for that hashtag. And that may be true, but I doubt those numbers are anything to tweet home about.

Use one, maybe two, hashtags in a tweet. Use more and you’ve got a pretty spammy tweet on your hands. Don’t scare away the followers who might have actually cared about your tweet in the first place.

Buy my new #ebook!!! It’s #super #free YOU KNOW IT awe.sm/5ofi3 Yeah yeah YEAH #hashtags — jack martin (@jackthemartin) June 21, 2012

Don’t over-promote your business

People don’t go to their favorite social media site to be advertised to. I think a lot of marketers and businesses forget that. You need to provide users with interesting and compelling content, and not all of it should be created by you.

What are you tweeting about? Ask yourself, “Why would someone follow this business on Twitter?” Don’t answer, “To keep up with our latest deals and promotions.” You can do better than that.

Establish your brand as an authority in your niche. Tweet the latest news from your industry, not just your business. Find a way to provide valuable information to your followers. Check out how Portent tweets out the news from our industry:

9 ways to measure your brand’s #social health via @jazspin awe.sm/cEQ5 And why you should care about each one — Portent, Inc.(@Portent) June 11, 2012

But what is the golden ratio for Twitter promotion? It depends on your industry, but you should try to balance a handful of promotional tweets with many handfuls of useful tweets that don’t directly advertise your products and services.

Don’t use autorespond messages

“Thanks for following! Please check out my articles at www.mystupidwebsite.com.”

Your followers don’t want that direct message. It’s not a kind gesture to a new follower; it’s you telling them they are just another statistic on your social media reports.

When I see an autorespond message in my direct message inbox, I brainstorm at least a dozen ways to track down and kill that tweeter. Okay, that’s not quite true, but it does send me and many other users straight to the unfollow button.

Update: Just got this awful autorespond message and I lashed out unexpectedly:

Reply to your fans

Reach out to a new audience, but also just make sure you don’t not respond to the audience you’ve got. Frequently monitor your @ mentions, and consider using a third party tool like Hootsuite to keep track of your brand keywords.

Don’t tweet too much

How often does the average brand or business tweet? The number may surprise you.
I used How often do you Tweet to analyze 50 of the top brands on Twitter. Those brands averaged over 37 tweets per day. Wow!

But that statistic is misleading. Many of those tweets were @ replies to followers (which you should be doing!), and your followers won’t see your @ replies to other followers (unless they follow them too).

There is a balance to be found here. Don’t just fire off a dozen tweets in five minutes. Tweet quality is more important than tweet quantity here. If your business has 15 great things to tweet about today, then that’s the right number. If you only have three interesting things to tweet about, then tweet three times. Just don’t make your followers sift through 15 tweets to find the three good ones. They won’t.

Be credible and trustworthy

A study by Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University analyzed the factors that affect the credibility of a tweet. Five factors stood out as having the largest negative impact on a tweet’s credibility:

• Tweet has non-standard grammar/punctuation.
• Twitter user has the default avatar/image (the egg).
• Twitter user has a cartoon avatar/image.
• The number of people the Twitter user is following far exceeds the number of people that follow them.
• Twitter user has a logo avatar/image (this is what we’re working against here).

Online readers are becoming more and more skeptical every day, so know that you’ll need to earn their trust with a quality Twitter feed.

Have you noticed any other things businesses do on Twitter that send you scrambling for the unfollow button?

Oh, and play your role as a child of knowledge by retweeting this article out for present generations to learn from.

How to Tweet Like You’re Not a Business portent.co/MV42Qk A guide for businesses.

— jack martin (@jackthemartin) June 26, 2012

The post How to Tweet Like You’re Not a Business appeared first on Portent.

I remember when I got my first Twitter follower. I was a bright-eyed web surfer with a bushy tail (since birth).

@getfree_ebooks3 followed me, and our relationship blossomed. She was beautiful. I would tell her about what I was eating for lunch and other important Twitter issues, and she would suggest nice pieces of malware for my computer to download.

I eventually discovered that @getfree_ebooks3 was a spam bot. It was heartbreaking. I realized the truth about Twitter.

At that moment, I realized that the best way to create quality relationships on Twitter is to seek out the people in your target audience and engage with them.

At first, I could manage this pretty easily. But once I was following over 150 people (often the magic number for our brains), it was too difficult to manage them all just with Twitter.

Why did it become so difficult so fast?

When you follow someone on Twitter, you are subscribing to their insight and opinions. So here you are, following hundreds or thousands of people because they might say something that’s interesting to you. But unless they tweet at you, retweet you, or happen to tweet moments before you check Twitter, you will miss out on everything they have to say.

And once you’re following +150 people, it’s pretty easy to miss out on everything.

But there is another way!

Enter Hootsuite

You may be familiar with the social media management tool Hootsuite. A free account with Hootsuite lets you monitor your Twitter, Facebook, and other feeds (called streams), as well as schedule updates for your social accounts. I’m sure the premium version does some more neat stuff.

Hootsuite is real swell.

Let’s focus on Hootsuite’s Twitter services. The average Hootsuite user may have a basic tab setup for their Twitter account. It probably looks similar to this:

From the left, you’ve got your home feed (the tweets and retweets of everyone you follow), @ mentions, and something else (I’m keeping track of who is retweeting me here, but this might also be your direct message inbox or favorites).

Not too bad. But there’s another way yet!

Enter Twitter Lists

A seasoned Twitter pro might have a good chuckle at the mention of Twitter lists. Twitter introduced lists in 2009 as a way to segment the people you follow into more specific groups.

You can easily add someone to a list by clicking their name to bring up a profile box, then selecting the “Add or remove from lists” option.

But, I would wager that less than 1% of Twitter users utilize lists.

And I don’t blame people for not using Twitter lists; Twitter lists suck. From the homepage (which already has your regular feed), it takes three clicks just to get to a list. Why would I ever do that when my home feed is right in front of me?

The concept of segmenting all these people we follow is great, though. Twitter just doesn’t let you use lists efficiently. But Hootsuite does.

Lists in Hootsuite

My Hootsuite tabs are made up of a combination of the basic Hootsuite stream functions shown above, and Twitter lists. Adding a list as a Hootsuite stream is easy. Just click Add Stream and select the list you want to monitor.

So What Type of Lists Should I Make?

That depends on what you use Twitter for. Make lists that group types of people that you want to interact with. Here are some lists you might make:

• Real life friends
• Professionals in your industry
• News or daily deals sources
• The blogs you follow
• Your favorite actors or comedians

Add those lists to your Hootsuite tab and you can create the ideal dashboard for monitoring the Twitter users you want to engage with the most. Follow Ian Lurie’s content curation schedule to start engaging with your segmented audiences efficiently.

My Twitter Dashboard in Hootsuite

Each Hootsuite tab will comfortably hold between 3-6 streams. You can have up to eight streams in a tab if you like horizontal scrolling. I use six streams, organized between two tabs. I call the tabs:

The Me Feed

The Me Feed tab is for me (I’m really good at naming things). I monitor:

• My @ mentions. No-brainer, right? If someone tweets at me, I see it. If they’re not a spam bot, I reply (and sometimes when they are a spam bot).
• My real life friends. Real Life > Online Life. Separating my real life friends has been a great way to follow the more @-heavy conversations between my closest friends.
• The people I regularly interact with. These are people I’ve already made a connection with. I know I want to see what these people are tweeting about, but other than Google+, I probably haven’t “hung out” with them before.

The Focused Feed

The Focused Feed tab is for more specific engagement. I monitor:

• Industry professionals. Instead of adding the top 20 internet marketing blogs to my Google Reader, I follow big and small time internet marketers and see what SEO cream rises to the top. When someone tweets out an article I like, I tweet back at them. What an easy way to start a conversation.
• Future friends. When I follow someone new, they often end up in this list. These are people that I think are interesting, but haven’t interacted with me yet. I keep an eye on these tweets, and tweet back if I have something to add. Once I build a relationship, I move them into the Me Feed.
• Favorite tweets. I favorite a tweet if I want to follow the link or reply to it later. I also use favorites to save the best tweets of the week so I have ammo for Follow Friday.

What’s missing from my feed?

• My home feed. I’ve segmented the followers I want to interact with the most, so I rarely need the home feed. If I did, I could just go to old-fashioned twitter.com, or check my phone.
• Hootsuite keyword/query monitoring. Hootsuite allows you to add streams that monitor specific keywords in tweets. This is a great feature, and you should use it. For this post however, we’re focusing on ways to engage the people you already follow.

What’s the Low Fat Version?

You don’t want to go through all that trouble? Well, I can’t make you. I’m not your mom. And I realize that.

If I was going to give you one tip to increase your engagement on Twitter, I would say make a list. Make one list. And fill it with the 25 to 50 people that you want to engage with the most. Add the list to your Hootsuite dashboard.

Watch that list like a hawk, or like another creature good at watching things. If those tweeters ask a question, answer it. If they tweet a link, check it out and let them know what you think. Make them your friends and allies.

Now you’re building a real Twitter following, not just making complex Canadian wedding plans with a spam bot. In related news: I’m single again, ladies!

The post How to Use Hootsuite and Twitter Lists to Engage Your Audience appeared first on Portent.

Since starting as a stand-up comedian in the late 60s, Steve Martin has been an actor, playwright, author, and one hell of a banjo player. In 2010, Martin brought his famous persona to the digital frontier: social media.

Steve Martin hit the social media scene in a big way; his Twitter account now boasts over 3,000 tweets to his 2.3 million followers. One of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time has found a new medium and audience for his legendary humor. And now, Martin has re-purposed his tweets in the form of his new book: The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten.

Due to absolutely no demand, soon I’m publishing a book of my tweets. Many of your replies included! All my profits to charity.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) October 27, 2011

The book of tweets.

So why the book of tweets? Martin initially hoped Twitter would help tighten up his comedy/banjo routine for touring, but in his book he explains why that didn’t pan out:

“All this tweet material turned out to be good for only one thing: tweeting.”

Tweeting and a book.

We recently explored what celebrities can teach us about Twitter, but the internet marketer in me insisted Steve Martin’s Twitter account get its own post. There are four great lessons of social engagement we can learn from Martin.

140 characters is not the limit.

A tweet may only be 140 characters, but that shouldn’t stop you from telling stories. Well-timed tweets that are interesting pieces of your overall message can form a daily storyline for your brand. Martin uses this technique to tell extended jokes on Twitter.

PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY HYPNOTIZED: You are feeling sleepy.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

AGAIN, DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY HYPNOTIZED: You are very sleepy.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

PLEASE, PLEASE, DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY HYPNOTIZED: Cluck like a chicken.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

*finger snap* How about a nice hand for our volunteer!

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) January 30, 2012

Provide unique content on Twitter.

Why would someone follow you on Twitter when they could just visit your website or Facebook page? If there isn’t a reason, you might find it hard to gain followers. Fans are engaged with Steve Martin’s feed because he tweets unique insight and jokes on Twitter and only Twitter. Martin focuses on the social network that fits his style and persona best, and his fans love it.

STEVE MARTIN IS REALLY OILED AND BUFF. OMG, my Twitter account was just hacked.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) June 6, 2011

Twitter engagement is a two-way street.

Martin’s book is not just a collection of his tweets, but also many funny replies sent to him by fans and other comedians. Fans are more closely connected with their favorite celebrities and brands than ever before. Conversations with fans can create long-lasting loyalty. During the Christmas season Martin did just that, using fan replies to rewrite the lyrics to Jingle Bells.

It’s Christmas sing-along time!I’ll sing the first line, you complete it!♬ Dashing through the snow, On a…?

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

Lots of good ones, but going with “On a “On a >>> pre-election promise of funding for green transport….”

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

Next! ♬ Over the fields we go…?

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

That’s right! Mark Taylor @mt575757 3h “ignoring rural property rights!”

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) December 17, 2011

Promotions don’t have to feel like promotions.

Martin plugs his books, television appearances, and banjo band concerts on Twitter, but you never feel like he’s over-doing it. That’s probably because Martin’s promotional tweets also double as jokes. Your audience is more likely to read and share your self-serving tweet if it offers them useful information or a good laugh (or both!).

New animated Jubilation Day video now on my website. This calls for exclamation marks!!!!!!! Doesn’t it?????http://www.stevemartin.com/

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) June 6, 2011

The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Highly Organized People. Make That Ten.

Steve Martin cuts through the loud noise on Twitter to deliver solid content to his audience. Even if you’re not interested in improving your Twitter game, you can still pick up Martin’s new Twitter book and enjoy some killer comedy. I’ll leave you with some more good ones. Which tweet is your favorite?

…and that is why I killed the circus clown. Wait…have just been informed Twitter was down for several minutes. Disregard last Tweet.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) April 6, 2011

I’ve decided I want to get to know Cher on a first name basis.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) May 26, 2011

I’ve decided not to sue Google over stealing my idea about calling me up and asking me anything

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) June 26, 2011

With all my gadgets, had to start carrying a “man-purse.” Reluctantly gave up my girl-purse.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) September 17, 2011

It’s hard to write a funny tweet when your dog is holding a gun on you. Yet, that is exactly what is happening.

— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) November 4, 2011

The post Steve Martin’s Twitter Book Teaches Us 4 Lessons in Engagement appeared first on Portent.

If a tweet falls in the forest, will anyone read it?

You’re churning out 140 characters of brilliant headlines and observations. You’re promoting great content through links. You’re participating in relevant hash tags. And you’re not getting the response you hoped for.

You might think that getting more followers will be enough to get your tweets read. That helps. But that’s like sitting in the nosebleed section of a hockey game–sure, you still get to watch grown men fight, but the t-shirt gun will never reach you.

So what’s standing in the way of you and that over-sized cotton tee?

Your Twitter profile picture

Look familiar? When you create a Twitter account, this egg will pop up as your avatar.

An egg. With a color background (randomly selected).

Isn’t that nice?

If you haven’t changed your avatar since joining Twitter, please do. When active Twitter users see an egg in their feed, it’s a clear sign that the user is blindly driving through Twitter traffic (while texting and doing their makeup).

BUT the egg is doing one thing better than most Twitter avatars.

It’s bright orange! How can you not see that?

Yes, seasoned Twitter pros know that users sporting the egg aren’t big tweeters, but there is still a lesson to be learned here.

Make your Twitter avatar POP

If I was on “Cake Boss,” I’d call all the cakes into my office & be like “Fax these forms! Make me coffee! JK dudes; I know you’re cakes.”

— rob delaney (@robdelaney) February 11, 2012

Do you think anyone has trouble noticing Rob Delaney’s tweets?
Probably not. His 320k followers found him somehow.

Delaney is a comedian that has risen to significant fame with Twitter. The popularity of his Twitter feed has even landed him a television show.

So is Rob Delaney so popular because of his bold profile picture?

Not quite. Delaney delivers incredible content on Twitter. His jokes are amazing. He links to more amazing comedy content. He promotes others in his niche and responds to fans. He’s doing Twitter right, and that speedo just ensures that all eyes are on him from the start (or at least part of him).

Delaney wrote in his Vice magazine column that he selected the worst possible picture of himself he could find when he started his Twitter account, a picture a friend took at the beach after saying, “You look awful, let me take a picture.”

Well, it worked.

Go buy a speedo to be good at Twitter

That’s not what I’m saying.

But your Twitter profile picture should be original and attention-grabbing, like Delaney’s. How about a colorful background? An unusual object? A weird facial expression?

Size matters

Isn’t American Apparel’s Twitter picture nice? A beautiful girl looking beautiful; what a classic clothing advertisement. But when American Apparel’s tweets appear in someone’s feed, what does that beautiful picture look like? Oh. That’s not so great. It’s just a bland mess. Nothing in there grabs your attention or tells you who is tweeting.

Update: American Apparel read my article and changed their profile picture. (They also changed it again later)

@jackthemartin, we changed our Twitter pic just for you! Better? — American Apparel (@americanapparel) February 14, 2012

Quite a bit better. The hands help it stand out in a sea of faces. The red lipstick awakens something in me that I should probably keep to myself.

American Apparel is now passing my Twitter profile picture class with a solid B.

OMG can’t anyone take a JOKE??!!!!!!! Hahahahhahh — Kris Jenner (@KrisJenner) February 8, 2012

Kris Jenner of Kardashian fame has a similar problem in her profile picture. Uh, what does the text say in that image? If it’s too small to read, get rid of it. Twitter avatars are only 48px square. It’s tough to be clear and bold in such a tiny window.

An entire company hinges on my chocolate and diet coke intake. #scary — Ian Lurie (@portentint) February 10, 2012

How about making your image stand out with a white background like Portent’s CEO Ian Lurie?

Challenge: Try not to think about @TacoBell. You’re thinking about it, aren’t you? — TACO BELL (@TacoBell) February 2, 2012

Taco Bell uses their iconic bell image with a colorful background to become visible on Twitter. No brand name necessary. It’s right there next to the picture anyway.

Update: Taco Bell switched from their excellent and engaging purple and red profile image to a bland black and white one with nothing going on. What a shame.

What I did

OMG for the last time NO I am not a model. — Jack Martin (@jackthemartin) February 13, 2012

There I am! @jackthemartin.

The bright green background makes it easy to locate my tweets in a busy feed. For good measure, the Clint Eastwood-like stare lets my followers know I mean business.

What have you come up with that will make the scanning masses of tweeters stop and notice? Have you seen any other great profile pictures on Twitter?

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