1/ Meta thread about "Going Pro" on Twitter.

I've been a Twitter power user since 2008 or so. Long time.

I've watched it change from an impromptu conversation or watch party platform to a place for people to build their professional reputations and network.

2/ In many ways it's matured into a more effective professional platform than LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is (mostly) about collecting the professional contacts you've met.

Twitter is a place to meet new people.

That much hasn't changed.

https://t.co/3nemTwNAcX
3/ What also hasn't changed is its power for networking.

This is particularly useful if you break out of your echo chamber and talk, build relationships with people doing tangentially related things.

You're bricklaying and with patience it pays off.

https://t.co/nHZaE8vPpn
4/ What has changed is a growing population of people being *intentional* about the use of Twitter for their professional lives.

Observations on what's working for them:
5/ They "Build in public" - sharing behind the scenes perspectives on whatever it is you're doing professionally.

What do people not know about what you do?

Stick within your expertise, with focus, where people see you are an authority - that’s where you grow a following.
6/ They still syndicate the content that they create on other platforms (YouTube, websites, Stackshare, Gumroad) for Twitter, but it's no longer spray-and-pray or autoposting.

It's previews.
Snapshots.
Deeper Cuts.
Q&A.
Engaging with the audience that consumes your content.
7/ Their followers know their ask.

Principally they fall into one of 3 buckets

- Sales (informational products, subscriptions, books)
- Referrals (Business Development, LPs, acquisitions, employment)
- Email signups (from Substack to websites)
8/ They may not realize it, but they're engaged in content marketing.

All of the rules @randfish laid out in his excellent 2015 deck apply https://t.co/gCRv4b744p

- they inspire a community
- reinforce a belief
- refute an opposing argument
- start a passionate discussion
9/

- discuss what's in someone else's financial/ promotional interests
- leverage group inclusion dynamics
- make the sharer look smart/ important/ cool
10/ Informal conversation still happens, but it's mostly in replies.

Replies are still open season to be friendly, deepen relationships, and - the most important value prop of all to Twitter - a barrier-less way to ask questions of people that would otherwise be unreachable.
11/

No one cares about your personality (not enough for a follow).

They care about your expertise. And what they can learn.

That’s your highest point of authority, when you leverage what you know best.

(That's a big difference between 2008 and 2021 Twitter.)
12/ The key difference between being a "pro" on Twitter vs an amateur comes down to the audience you're writing for:

Pros are writing for a specific external audience.
Amateurs are writing for their friends or themselves.

Twitter is maturing, and it's fertile ground for pros.

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Recently, the @CNIL issued a decision regarding the GDPR compliance of an unknown French adtech company named "Vectaury". It may seem like small fry, but the decision has potential wide-ranging impacts for Google, the IAB framework, and today's adtech. It's thread time! 👇

It's all in French, but if you're up for it you can read:
• Their blog post (lacks the most interesting details):
https://t.co/PHkDcOT1hy
• Their high-level legal decision: https://t.co/hwpiEvjodt
• The full notification: https://t.co/QQB7rfynha

I've read it so you needn't!

Vectaury was collecting geolocation data in order to create profiles (eg. people who often go to this or that type of shop) so as to power ad targeting. They operate through embedded SDKs and ad bidding, making them invisible to users.

The @CNIL notes that profiling based off of geolocation presents particular risks since it reveals people's movements and habits. As risky, the processing requires consent — this will be the heart of their assessment.

Interesting point: they justify the decision in part because of how many people COULD be targeted in this way (rather than how many have — though they note that too). Because it's on a phone, and many have phones, it is considered large-scale processing no matter what.