Twitter and Self Improvement?

Twitter is all the rage these days. And no doubt, it is a powerful tool in growing your online business. I recently read that having Twitter followers is like having a sub-list. Definitely, "the money is in the list," which says a lot about the value of Twitter. And makes it important to think about how you use Twitter and what kind of people you follow on Twitter.

Until very recently, I didn't reach out and follow people on Twitter at all. I just followed people I knew. Then I got introduced to Mr. Tweet, and "he" recommended some great people to me. Now I'm consistently finding great new people to follow.

I basically follow four types of people on Twitter. First, there are those whose posts always make me smile. I like these people, even though I don't know them outside of Twitter.

Second are those whose posts always give me something valuable or interesting. Usually they link to a blog post or news article.

The third type of person I follow is those who seem to run entire businesses on Twitter. They communicate with everyone. They tweet so often there's no way they could have time to run a business outside their Twitter connections.

And finally, there are those who do nothing but market their products. I have no sense of their personality. They post nothing but sales links and make claims that if I click I can make $1000 this week. This type always follows me first, and I follow them back to make sure I'm never like them.

I've never thought about what type of a "followee" I am, or what impression my Twitter "friends" have of me. I just tweet what I'm thinking about, questions I have, stories that catch my interest, and an occasional plug to ask people to consider joining my list. I automatically tweet my blog posts and Ezine Articles.

As I've started thinking about how I use Twitter, I realize that I don't use it very effectively to grow my business because I have no "Twitter strategy." But I also realize that if I did use Twitter more effectively, not only would my business benefit, but my personal growth would too.

Think about the purpose of Twitter for internet marketers. You try to show your followers that you are intelligent, interesting, and have something of value to share. You want to earn their trust so they will do business with you. This is not to say that Twitter doesn't have dual purposes. I follow a lot people because I have an interest in purchasing from them, not selling to them.

But, I digress. Let's assume your main purpose is to develop relationships that will make you money. You are trying to be the best person you can be. You are putting your best foot forward. Trying to be helpful, positive and uplifting. Trying to add value to people's lives.

And, when you add value to others, don't you necessarily add value to your own life? Even in the worst of times, it's helpful to repeat positive affirmations, to sing a happy song, to put a smile on your face. Because your subconscious mind doesn't know the difference. It knows only what you tell it. That's why we become what we think about most of the time.

So, if we are being the best we can be, if we are portraying the person we want to become, aren't we affirming and strengthening our best character traits? Isn't that self improvement? On top of our own efforts, we're reading a Twitter stream full of people also trying to do and be their best. What an awesomely positive environment! It's like free therapy.

I don't know if it works this way for everyone. But I know my Twitter stream consists of all types of people doing and saying positive things. No one's doubting my decision to become a "full time" online marketer. No one's talking about how hard and depressing the recession is. All of the things I despise about the outside world aren't in my Twitter stream. Wow, I follow great people.

You should devote at least 30 minutes a day to your personal growth. And, no, your tweeting doesn't count. Putting some thought into your Twitter strategy, however, and being a genuine, real person when you tweet, is totally congruent with a plan for self improvement. So, in thinking about your Twitter strategy, both your online business and your personal life will benefit from considering how your self-improvement fits into that strategy. Happy tweeting!