Most of this time, this blog focuses on practical strategies and tactics that will help you enhance your personal brand, with the ultimate goal of positioning you as a respected celebrity expert within your market. However, every once in a while it’s a good idea to examine what NOT to do when it comes to personal branding. Today, we’re going to focus on Twitter… and without any further ado, here are several of the most common personal branding mistakes we see:

1)     Too much selling. Your Twitter audience isn’t interested in a sales pitch. If you can subtly work in references to your products and services along with other valuable content, great—but if the majority of your tweets are self-promoting, you’ll be ignored.

2)     Post… and forget. Many people use Twitter this way: 1) log in. 2) post tweet. 3) log out. If that’s all you are doing, you’re losing the chance to participate in conversation and build relationships.

3)     Focusing only inwards. There are plenty of talkers in the world… and very few good listeners. The same is true on Twitter. Pay attention to what your followers are up to. Interact with them. Ask them questions about their life and their business. Get engaged!

4)     Not relaxing enough. Twitter is supposed to be fun and casual—you don’t have to be buttoned up, all the time. Crack a joke. Share some of your non-work passions. Let your audience get to know you!

5)     Relaxing TOO much. Of course, others go too far. Remember that your Twitter presence is ultimately a reflection of your business. Coarse humor and offensive statements don’t make you look good—so don’t go there. If you don’t want a client seeing it, don’t tweet it!

6)     Inconsistency. It’s hard to build meaningful relationships if you’re absent from Twitter for weeks at a time. Try to stay engaged—it doesn’t have to be every day, but you’ll need to be present at least a couple of times per week in order to make an impact.

7)     Not providing value. Ultimately, your audience isn’t going to pay attention if you don’t give them a reason to. Share news and analysis. Keep them updated with best practices. Make them laugh. Give your audience a reason to pay attention!

Hopefully these will help you build your brand on Twitter—feel free to contact me if you’d like to learn more!