What you say in your Twitter bio makes a difference. You get 160 characters to describe yourself, share an outlook on life or to define your work. If you’re curious what others say, you are not alone.
Through some fancy Google search queries, the folks at Twitter Truth were able to discover that the following words were mentioned in Twitter bios:
Now, if you are a job seeker, over 1,000 people were identified as having the word “recruiter” in their bio. Now that might make ya go hmm…and in case you’re wondering who they are, I was hoping you’d ask: 1,000+ Recruiters on Twitter.
Expert Versus Beer
What I found interesting, was that over 4,000 tweeps use the word “expert” in their bio while over 20,000 tweeps use the word beer. So, the question I ask you is, would you rather hang with the expert or with the beer? That’s what I thought.
Some Twitter Bio Tips:
1. Be real.
2. Be you.
3. Tell us what you do, or
4. Tell us what you love.
5. Be funny, but not obnoxious.
More Resources:
5 Tips to Optimize Your Twitter Profile
Joel Heffner Offers 6 More Great Tips I’d Agree With
Why Your Twitter Bio is Important
Chad Norman’s Personal (Compelling) Case Study of Optimizing Bios
What others Twitter bio tips might you suggest?
]]>In my humble opinion, those that are experts are only referred to as “experts” by other people. This is one reason why they are experts….because they denounce their own “expert-ism.”
These are the people we love. The people that are life-long learners, not in a cliché way, but by role-modeling through action. They aren’t afraid to try new ideas or to spend extra time stretching an already vetoed idea. They experiment. They are not in a leather chair with shiny Italian shoes, but they are in the jungle of the marketplace navigating knowledge, ideas and society for applications of thought. True experts, also fail at times. But they learn from it, tweak it and make it better.
Last week on Twitter, I had a thought and shared it: “Don’t be an expert. Instead, become an industry-valued asset. The difference? One works for himself and his own knowledge base, the other, wants to be valuable and enjoys collaborative efforts.
Now I don’t know about you, but I would much rather work with someone who wants to be valuable. These are the people that do any task just because it needs to get done, even if it’s not in their official job description. These are the people:
People who want to be valuable don’t wait for people to come to them; instead, they roll up their sleeves and say, I’m ready. What do we need? In fact, my family has the saying that if you even have to ask: How can I help? Then you aren’t helping, because helping=doing. Perhaps once we separate those who want to be experts and those who want to be assets, the value of that employee and the work given will shine.
Not to be on a soapbox (okay, maybe a ramp), but perhaps you are an expert. But are you sensitive to how your colleagues and those in your industry react to the word “expert.” Perhaps, we need a new word for you, or perhaps you can angle yourself to be an “industry valued-asset.” Call it a game of the tongue, but words have meaning, as does action. What are your words saying and your actions doing?
In your eyes, what are some ways you differentiate between an expert and an industry-valued asset? What are other ways people can make themselves “valuable” in your eyes?
photo credit: jeannie86
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