6 things I do to limit my time on Twitter to 20 minutes daily

Posted by Pat Kitano at 6/8/2009 10:21 PM
Categories: Twitter, How-To's
Tags: twitter time management

Despite following 17,000+ Twitterers, I have systemized my time on Twitter to make it an efficient networking tool. (Disclaimer: I do spend much more than 20 minutes on Twitter during the days I use Twitter for our #domus webinar workshops).
  1. Broadcast great content and links - Whenever you see a great article or tweet, share the link to that article in a tweet. 8 articles retweeted per day = 5 minutes
  2. Ignore your general timeline of tweets - Use Seesmic or PeopleBrowsr to separate the people you want to follow. There's only ~100 on my watch list. Of course, don't totally ignore the timeline, sometimes interesting tweets will catch your eye. Paying no attention = 0 minutes
  3. Follow up on DMs and @replies - Twitterers that start conversations with you welcome a response, even a short acknowledgement. Many who find you have shared business interests that can be leveraged into intimate business conversation quickly. 15 replies per day = 7 minutes
  4. Thank or acknowledge Twitterers who retweet or #followfriday you - See #2 in the first list. Many Retweeters want to get to know you. Show them some love by either retweeting their tweets back, starting a Twitter conversation with them, or just a simple "thanks for retweeting!". I guarantee they will love the acknowledgement. 10 retweets per day = 5 minutes (I'm not consistent with this).
  5. Be reticent - This is really based on personality. I'm not prone to chat, so I don't get into those long threaded chats you see on Twitter or blogs. If I were naturally garrulous, I may be spending hours on Twitter. In any case, most Twitterers who get to know me realize this is my personality and accept the fact that I'm not going to get into bar talk or what I had for lunch. 10 conversational tweets per day = 3 minutes
  6. Use Twitter like IM - Twitter is great for passing quick ideas back and forth or for chat box purposes like "are you free for a phone call now?". The bigger ideas and discussions happen in multiple sentences, so don't hesitate to pick up the phone or email. Not on Twitter = 0 minutes

 

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