Twitter VIP School- How to choose the right name
Social media is a big part of our life. For better of for worse, my three year old already knows what Facebook is, and I imagine Twitter isn’t far behind.
I actually can’t complain. Social media has played a major a huge role in both my personal and professional life. It reconnected me to an old friend who is now my husband (and the love of my life 
) and helped me establish my brand online so I can pursue a career doing what I love.
Learning how to participate effectively in social media can help you grow both personally and professionally. And even though I’m far from a guru at this, I’m happy to teach you what I know.
So, welcome to Lesson 1 in the Twitter VIP School! My goal is to turn this into a home-study course for you, so you can become a VIP in Twitterland too. For now, I’ll be giving you lessons via blog posts.
And, just so you know, I’m not talking about turning you into a social media snob. Ick! In my world, “VIP” stands for Valuable, Informative, Participant, and those three principles underlie everything I’ll be teaching you.
So let’s get started…
Lesson One: What’s in a Name?
How to choose the right twitter handle
Download the pdf for the full lesson. I’ve made it available to download for free for you. You don’t even have to give me your email address, just click the button above. Be sure to sign up for this blog’s newsletter and/or rss feed so you can make sure you catch all the lessons. I might make the Twitter VIP School only available via the newsletter in the future, as a thank you to my subscribers, so make sure you are on the list!
Twitter is like life
What is true for human nature in general, is also true in the twittersphere: People would rather connect with people, than businesses.
This is important to remember when choosing your twitter handle. Your twitter “handle” is your twitter username. (ex: My twitter handle is @morgandaycecil and you can see it in my twitter url, www.twitter.com/morgandaycecil).
First thing to know when choosing your perfect twitter handle it is that it is a good idea to use some version of your own name as your twitter username – NOT your company.
When Twitter handles shouldn’t be personal names
If you are averse to using your own name or some version of it, I’d recommend going with a straight forward description of what you do or what your tweets will be about. This can work for some businesses, such as @NPRNews (theire tweets are about the top news stories from NPR), @GoToLouisville (their tweets focus on Lousiville tourism and local news), but not the best choice for personal brands. Why? Because personal brands are personal, and when trying to be personal a personal name comes in handy.
These types of names work best for journalistic or information-driven twitter accounts (i.e. not personal brands). More time is spent publishing industry/niche specific news-worthy items and less time is spent interacting in community. The difficulty with these kind of names for personal brands is that they aren’t very personal—you are left with less room for your humanoid personality to shine through because you are setting up the expectation that you will only be delivering“on-topic” tweets (i.e. as soon as you upload a twitpic of your dog wearing a sambraro or mention what you ate for breakfast, you might be left in the dust by your twitter followers because these aren’t exactly “on-topic” or “newsworthy” items).
Choosing names of appropriate length
Your twitter username is also the name that comes after the @ symbol when people are tweeting to you or about you. (see below, my tweet about @BrianSolis)
Given Twitter’s unique 140 character tweet specifications, you want to keep your twitter username’s length in mind. Twitter gives you up to 15 characters for your username, but I highly recommend not using all 15 if you don’t have to.
My twitter username, @MorganDayCecil, is 14 characters, rather on the long end of the spectrum, I know. But… it was an improvement over my first twitter name, @ModernSingleMom, which had an even bigger problem that we will address in a sec.
All other things being equal, the shorter the twitter handle, the better. This is strategic. Here is why, in brief: Coming up you will learn about the key role RTs (ReTweets) play in becoming a Twitter VIP. If your twitter username is something like @Modernsinglemom or @Supercalifragilious people are going to be less likely to Re-Tweet what you tweet for the simple reason that they won’t be able to fit enough of your tweet into their own tweet because your dang name is so long, tweet, tweet. (If you have no idea what a RT is yet, don’t worry, we’ll get there. Just trust me on this, when it comes to Twitter handles: Short is better than long).
Choosing names that have longevity
Like naming a child, you want to pick a twitter name that you can stick with for the long haul. This was not a tip I had heard when I originally signed up for twitter. (One of the many mistakes I made, so you don’t have to).
Like I said, my first twitter username was @Modernsinglemom, which I thought worked because my blog at the time was ModernSingleMomma (note that twitter cut me off at 15 characters- what I really was going for when I signed up was @ModernSingleMomma). What I realized about a year later when I was engaged to be married is that this name really wasn’t the best idea. I had branded myself as a single mom, which was awesome when I was a single mom and had a blog about it, but when I moved on to being a married mom, among other things, my brand didn’t necessarily grow with me.
Good news is you can change your twitter username (as I did) without having to sign up for a new account; bad news is you may loose some people in the shift (they’ll continue to converse with you at your old handle but there won’t be anybody there to reply back). Best for brands/businesss to choose a name that has the greatest chance for longevity—another reason why going with a version of your real name isn’t such a bad idea. (Note: If you are in a pickle of knowing you need to a new twitter username but not knowing the best way to go about it, email me and I’ll walk you through what I did to make the transition from @ModernSingleMom to @MorganDayCecil as smooth and “friend/follower” keeping as possible).
Handy examples
Time to give you some real life inspiration so you can walk away from this lesson with a clear vision for the right twitter handle for you.
Let’s walk through some examples of A+ Twitter Handles for personal brands
1. Using your FULL NAME
If your full name is under 15 characters, grab it now. My husband twitter handle is @MrCecil because @RonCecil had already been claimed by a man who has only tweeted twice. It is a first come, first served world. And with millions of folks signing up to see what the twitterverse is all about, chances are you might find yourself in the same boat as my husband. So, what to do if your name is already taken? …
2. Using your INITIALS (or variation)
@GaryVee (Gary Vaynerchuk)
@PWilson (Pete Wilson)
A great solution for long names (like Gary’s) and names already taken (like Pete’s) is to make use of your initials, or shorthand. I highly recommend going with one of your names in full though, like the examples above. This makes it easier to remember. Also, make sure you put more than a passing thought into the way you craft your initials so you don’t end up with something that sounds like the punchline to a dirty joke.
3. Using a combination of PROFESSION/BUSINESS WITH YOUR NAME
This works because it automatically establishes you as dedicated and committed to your field or niche. You are going for expert status and making it a point to become an authority in your field. However, before going this route, be double-dog sure you’ll be sticking with this particular brand/profession for awhile. Don’t brand yourself LawyerLaura if you kinda have an inkling to become a Yoga instructor.
Now let’s take a walk through some examples of D- Twitter Handles:
(Note: I made up these names in my head to use as examples for you. I’m not purposely trying to call anyone out…if these twitter names actually exist I apologize to the owner in advance. I mean no meanness!)
RANDOM
@ILikePandas
@PlanetJupitor
@TacoNight
Random twitter handles might seem cute, but they aren’t a good idea. Why? Because… 1). They’re confusing 2). They’re unprofessional and 3). They’re a major loss in branding opportunity for you and your biz.
Unless you are a zoologist specializing in Pandas, @ILikePandas will do you no good. Here is a simple test: If your “creative twitter handle” sounds like an AOL email address from the ‘90s toss it. You aren’t in junior high anymore- cute or ironic don’t get brownie points unless they are actually relevant to your brand/biz.
2. USE OF AN_UNDERSCORE
@I_Prefer_Space
Just as underscores in email addresses and websites can sometimes lead to trouble, so too in twitter handles. For one, it overcomplicates things. @MorganDayCecil is much more natural than @Morgan_Day_Cecil.
The more important reason not to use them is that they aren’t often used, so you may reveal yourself as a “newbie” or kinda clueless to the Twittersphere’s social norms. (For this reason, stay away from twitter names followed by random numbers, ex: @Morgan1213. It isn’t used either unless there is a significant reason for the numbers. Mostly it appears that you just settled for whatever handle you could get after discovering the name you really wanted was taken—kind of like your gmail account).
“You will forever be “branded” in people’s minds with your twitter name, so choose carefully.” –Laura Roeder, @LKR
IV. In Sum
- People would rather connect with people, than businesses.
- Use some version of your own name as your twitter username, NOT your company.
- If you are opposed to using your own name, think about what your tweets will be about.
- Short is better than long: You get a maximum of 15 characters for your twitter username. Don’t feel like you have to use them all.
- Longevity: Be double- dog sure if you choose a name involving your niche, profession, or business that it is something you plan on sticking with.
- Relevancy is key: Is your Twitter handle a good reflection of you, the brand, or you the representative of your biz?
- Simplicty: Is it as tight and neat as possible? (i.e. no underscores, meaningless numbers or dashes).
V. TAKE ACTION NOW:
Brainstorm some possible names. If you would like some feedback or have other question, please share with us in the comment section below.
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