I have three Twitter accounts:

http://www.Twitter.com/MarieKazalia

http://www.Twitter.com/Transmediartist

http://www.Twitter.com/TransArtGuide

but I have only recently begun to become intentionally active on Twitter.

Two years ago, when I searched the word *artist* on Twitter the list contained about 300 artists. Today, the number of artists using Twitter is in the thousands to hundreds of thousands with lots more artists joining Twitter all the time.

If you have a Twitter account then you understand how easy it is to make connections on Twitter. Do you know how to specifically find and connect with art professionals, who can help your career, on Twitter? Would you like to follow hundreds of art curators, art collectors, art magazine editors, art journalist, art business professionals,art print publishers, art gallerists, art consultants, art agents, art funders, art non-profits, artists, art agencies, art sponsors, interior designers and others who buy art for their clients?  Do searches on keywords in Tweets and Twitter profiles to find them. I know this may seem obvious, yet it takes some effort to make this work well. Also, click the *Who to Follow* button at the top of your Twitter page, on a regular basis, for suggestions.

Tweetdeck makes searches easy. Just now, I found the popular arts Twitter account @ArtAnorak ,and viewed their lists, where I found an *arts_business/Artjournalist* list that I added as a new column in my Tweetdeck to follow the Tweets in that list more closely.  I’m no expert on using Twitter or Tweetdeck. I tried TweetDeck two years ago and found it just a little too plugged in, if you know what I mean. I recently installed Tweetdeck again and now I see it that has many new features. Today, on Tweetdeck, in my *recommends* list, there were several listings of those who had Retweeted (RT) some of my Tweets. I missed those RTs on the Twitter site but Tweetdeck tracked them for me. I made a point of following all those who had Retweeted my Tweets. Also, Retweets mean that Twitter is working for me. It’s kind of fun to send bits of information out there and track them to see what others do with the bits. For me it exciting to see Retweets of my new e-book, that I am promoting,– here is the Link to my e-book: http://bit.ly/TransArt

Click the little cloud icon at the bottom of a Tweetdeck column to track Twitter Trends. Set up continuous Keyword searches in Tweetdeck by clicking on the wrench icon at upper right (for settings), then clicking on *Global Filter* and adding your keywords–it’s that simple.

Once you’ve begun using Twitter and have built a list of Twitter followers you’ll want to keep them interested with lots of great content in your Tweets. This may require some warming up. One Twitter expert, who wrote one of the first books on using Twitter, advised that only 10% of your Tweets should be self-promotional. As a visual artist, you are your brand, so, all your Tweets will educate others about you and about your art and/or  Tell your story in some way. So, I think that it may be impossible for a visual artist to do a 10%/90% split in their Tweeter self-promotion. That’s my opinion and I’d like to hear what others have to say.

Today, I Tweeted the PR Success story of how I connected with artist Trevor Jones when he selected me as a winner of one of his drawings (on Facebook). Then I wrote and published an article about him on Yahoo!  The article, published as an exclusive just a couple of days ago, has been read by hundreds already. (Link to article: http://bit.ly/kPGe46 ). Since Trevor Jones is a Canadian artist (living in Scotland), I am hoping that Yahoo! Canada will also pick up the article. (One thing can lead to another, and that happens on Twitter too. It’s easy to tie Twitter and Facebook together–Tweets can be automated to appear on Facebook, or, Facebook status lines can be set to automatically feed into your Twitter account.)

Artists, in your Tweets on Twitter, try *Telling the Story of how* –how you got the exhibit, how you made the sale, how your friend got his/her show (cross-promote). Tell the Story of How you learned a certain technique. How you set up your studio. How you came to live and work where you are now. There are lots of  possibilities. If you keep those two broad themes in mind—Educate others about yourself, and, Tell the story of how…—you will find that you come up with lots to write about in your Tweets.

Others goal on Twitter include–making your Tweets memorable, catchy, and to the point.

Some things not to do on Twitter: I often see Tweets using quotes by famous people–and many on Twitter find quotes to be lame content, unless really relevant to a current life event in some way.

Also, saying Good morning every day on Twitter, and then good-night at the end of the day every evening is not very exciting or inventive and has already been overused by many and may cause others to unfollow you.

If you have Tips and Advice on ways to use Twitter ( or not use), or what to Tweet (or not Tweet) about, please share in a comment below.