Twitter can be overwhelming and intimidating! I do believe that everyone wants to tweet but it is the “big and scary” social network site. Twitter does not have to be if you take things slow, steady, and strategic when getting started.

The first thing you should know before continuing is DO NOT; I repeat, DO NOT follow everyone who follows you. You will receive follows from:

• Spammers who you clearly don’t want to follow back.
• Automated follows from people who follow you because you followed someone that triggered an alert somewhere.
• Weirdies and creepers.
• Finally, the legit ones that you will want to follow back!

This leads into the topic of today’s post – to follow or not to follow.

Here are some quick tips that allow you to make a decision as to whether they are follow-worthy. Your stream is sacred! Don’t flood it with just anyone! You will get the most out of this experience if you only follow those who you are really interested in.

Do they have a profile image?

I am not going to follow someone who is missing a profile image. I will not even engage if they are faceless! Since social networking is about engaging with people, it is hard for me to want to engage with a faceless person. Do you think they are taking social networking serious if they don’t upload an image before trying to build a following?

What is their profile name?

Does their profile name contain their name or brand’s name or something cheesy like make_cash_today? Yes, you will be surprised by some of the names that will come through. I will only engage with those who are going to bring value to me. Even though their name says “make_cash_today”, you probably won’t! ?

What does their bio say?

A Twitter bio can tell you a lot about that person or brand. Take a few seconds and read over it. What type of vibe do you receive when you read it? If you get an icky feeling, don’t follow them back! It really is that simple. This is also important to remember when setting up your bio! This is a first impression for your future followers.

What and when was their most recent tweets?

If you are still questioning whether you should follow someone, take a look at their most recent tweets. Are they recent? This tells you if they are active on Twitter or not. What do their recent tweets contain? This will help you decide if they are someone to follow or not.

If the person/brand has made it through this cut and you are still unsure of whether to follow or not, I say don’t. Clearly they are not interesting enough or you would have clicked follow by now. But there is one more thing to consider when making the decision.

What do their numbers tell you?

Look at their Following : Follower ratio. Having a balanced number of following : followers can tell you that they are safely interacting and engaging on Twitter. Celebrities and brands are usually the only exceptions to this rule because they are likely to have a high amount of followers with a low number of following back.

Take things slow when getting started. Create your profile first, customize your background and bio, and then start to grow your list. Twitter is not a popularity contest. Be strategic from the start so it is not so overwhelming.

Please feel free to share your Twitter name below!