Twitter is my virtual water cooler of choice.  I love the social and business interaction that takes place.  As it has grown, the chatter moves faster and finding a place to jump is has become more challenging for newcomers.

I find it easy to get comfortable in the circles I’ve already developed.  With over 700 followers at this point, there’s a lot going on in my timeline and I can’t always respond to everything I’d like to – but I see others with three or four times that many followers who consistently greet new followers and bring them into the conversation.

So I’ve made a list of ways that I plan to be more friendly on Twitter.

1. Greet new followers with a reply and mention something about them. (@newfollower Thanks for the follow! I see that you’re a VA – great business to be in!)
2. Make it a point to encourage new Twitter users who have followed you by asking them questions about what they do. (@newbie Tell me something fun you did today.)
3. Recommend a fun Twitter user to your followers. (I’m enjoying tweets from @funperson – give her a follow and see what I mean!)
4. Don’t send all your compliments by direct message – use a reply so that others see you complimenting them in public.
5. Tweet about a good blog post you found on Twitter. (Good blog post about working late by @goodblogger – http://www.url.com)
6. Take time to reply to more tweets on a daily basis.  Sometimes we smile at a tweet but don’t act on it.  Replies help to widen circles on Twitter as your followers spot someone new that you follow and they don’t.
7. Create a blog post that highlights your favorite tweets of the week on a regular basis.
8. Create a blog post with a list of Twitter users who regularly provide value on a particular niche topic.
9. Introduce a new Twitter user to an older Twitter use you think they have something in common with. (@newtweet did you know that @oldtweet also dreams of going to Paris on vacation?)
10. Promote other Twitter user’s resources on a regular basis. ( This is an awesome list of tips that @cooltweet keeps updated each week: http://www.url.com)

Have any ideas you’d like to add to the list?