Oh, c’mon! Go ahead! Take a crack at it! It’s really not that intimidating. A couple tweets here, a couple tweets there; a 

few RT’s sprinkled in, several hundred #’s here, and……BAM!!! You’re a Tweetin’ machine! The first time I set up my first Twitter account, @MikeChuidian, I really didn’t know what to expect, nor did I completely understand it. I mean who understands this….?!?!

Huh?!?! Yup, those not familiar with Twitter and its landscape can and will be utterly perplexed. I know I was. But I did what any other forward thinking individual would do…. I Googled it! Novel idea, I know. I Googled what hashtags were, the meaning of RT’s and @’s, and those funky random characters that don’t make bit of sense!

I started following some famous peeps I had interest in and then started following people in my industry. At first, I just started to observe my twitter timeline and tweeted a little bit, engaging here and there, but nothing to generate a steady following. But getting that first follower is pretty awesome. I mean, who wants to follow a regular Joe like myself, right?! For a year I had my account and I had a little under 120 followers and was following about 100, most of them people I knew personally.

By this time, I knew how powerful Twitter could be and how it could help build my personal brand. I decided to step my Twitter game up, but how was I going to do that? I only had 120 or so followers. Being that I love all aspects of Recruiting/Staffing/HR and Social Media, I decided to start following the relevant industry influencers, thought leaders and fellow recruiters alike.

So my Twitter score at that time… Followers- 122….Following- 500+. As I started getting a hang of how Twitter worked, I decided to put the pedal to the metal and began engaging with those influencers, thought leaders and recruiters more than ever. The result was a steady rise in my followers accompanied by me following more relevant tweeps along the way.

I frequented the chats on Twitter, as I do to this day. Particularly #Jobhuntchat, which I co-moderate on a monthly basis and the likes of #peoplechat, #Tchat, #nextchat, #Internpro, etc. Not only was this the vehicle within Twitter that helped build my brand, but I was becoming someone of influence. A small one, but an influence nonetheless. I saw my following increase and quickly. WHOA, wait a minute….ME? I guess so! I have a passion and love for what I do and I love sharing that with people.

The chats on Twitter allowed me to have a voice to share my vision and outlook on my industry. More importantly it has allowed me to help people out and give them valuable advice. I was floored the first time OOMF (One Of My Followers) whom I had little interaction with, reach out to me via Twitter and asked if I could give them advice on recruiting! My response…ABSO-freakin-lutely!! After this, I knew Twitter was going to do wonders not only for my personal brand, but my credibility in the industry as well! After 6 months of goin’ all in on Twitter, here are my current stats to date and growing daily…..Not Rockstar status, but it’s building….

I’ve got a pretty rad brand going right now and it’s because of Twitter. More importantly I’ve got a rad brand because of the awesome friendships and professional relationships I’ve developed over a 6 month period. I’m no overnight sensation by any means and am proud to have grown my following organically. But let’s get one thing straight before you whisk into the Twittersphere…..Building your brand on Twitter is a lot of work. It takes a lot of motivation, purpose and thought to build your brand there. Use Twitter wisely and be conscious of the content you’re tweeting.

Here are the Top 5 Elements that built my brand on Twitter:

• Awesome Profile- NO robotic profiles and no one follows Eggs! You love food?? I wanna know!
• Follow to be followed- Put your pride aside and follow, follow, follow….
• Content is King- Please refrain from tweeting articles about Justin Bieber. Stay Relevant!
• If content is King, then Engaging & Interacting is Queen- Get on those Twitter chats and tweet a Thank you to those who engaged with you via RT’s (Retweets) and MT’s (Mentions)
• Get the Balance Right- Personal Tweet, Retweet, Share an article, Reply’s, etc. You can’t build a brand on Twitter by being a “Job Post” tweeter *YAWN*. Strategize!!

U CAN DO EET!!

RT @MikeChuidian: Be rad & Tweet ur way 2 an awesome persnl brnd! #Branding #SoMe #Engage via @theradrecruiter at http://goo.gl/xGFZo