You’re still scratching your head over the Twitterverse, but you know there’s opportunity for your operation. You have decided to try out Twitter, even though these 140-characters seem like a waste of time. What now? I’d suggest you spend 15 minutes a day for three weeks to learn the tool and develop habits to utilize social media as a part of your farm operation.

Getting on Twitter is easy; you just go to https://twitter.com/. Understanding it is not as simple, so do not get frustrated if it all seems like foreign land. These tips and tricks will help pave the way to a productive Twitter experience.

1. Pick a short user name that’s reflective of your interests and preferably memorable – e.g., @dairylu, @itweetmeat @beansrock @soybeansue.
2. Enter in your desired password. Be sure to write your user name and password down so you don’t forget them!
3. Your e-mail is safe, so use a real one. Decide whether you want the e-mail updates or not from Twitter (I opt out of nearly all of these, personally).
4. Skip the step about finding friends – you can always go back to it later if you want Twitter to scan your address book.

Welcome, you’re now on Twitter, and it only took a few minutes. The first thing you need to do is create your profile – your “persona.” Social media is about people, so this is important. Click on settings in the top right corner of your Twitter home page and take the following steps.

1. Check your user name and time zone to ensure it’s what you want.
2. Enter in a URL for a Web site, blog or Facebook fan page/group. If you don’t have one, then leave it blank.
3. Consider which keywords are most important to you and will generate the most interest amongst potential followers. These need to be entered into the one line bio field – it’s the most important step as it will be your first impression. Make your description authentic and filled with personality. For example, “Soybean and corn farmer in Illinois who loves the St. Louis Rams, tractors and biotechnology, and knows soy biodiesel helps the diesel engines perform and provides a cleaner environment.
4. Determine what location you want to list (state, city & state or USA) and be sure “geotagging” is turned OFF (otherwise, people can track your specific location).
5. Hit the save button.

Now it’s time to upload your photo. You should still be in the “settings” tab. In the upper center of your screen, click “picture.” This will ask you to upload a file less than 700 kb, which will be the photo everyone sees associated with your user name. I understand you may not want your picture out there and would rather put up a great shot of your soybean field or perhaps your equipment. However, social media is about people – and it’s really hard to put a face on the plate with a photo of a combine. Don’t forget to save!

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