What can you do with 140 characters? Obviously, not much, but using Twitter for the past few months has somehow given you the “talent” to think of the best 140-character phrases– that is, if you want to broadcast your ideas to the world and yet, be understandable.

If Twitter allowed more than 140 characters for its posts, then it wouldn’t be a micro-blogging site. Technically, Twitter’s 140 characters is a blessing and at the same time a curse. Hence, knowing how to make use of your 140 characters is a crucial technique you must learn. Below are six tips that can help you use your 140 characters wisely.

1. Utilize your user profile. Always start off with the basics. Upon registering on Twitter, you are given the option to add details about yourself through your user profile. Tweeting isn’t the only way to invite people to your website or to your services. Utilize the ‘About Me’ portion of your profile and fill in as much information as you can. You just saved yourself 140 characters by doing that.
2. Keep it Short and Simple. Since Twitter only allows 140 characters, keeping your statements short and simple is a must. Whenever you post a statement, go straight to the point, mention only what needs to be mentioned and don’t be redundant. Remember the initials K-I-S-S when formulating posts.
3. Make your posts catchy. With 140 characters, you won’t be able to post an entire blog on Twitter; hence, try to make your posts catchy when linking to a site where your blog post is. This is the most common technique used by bloggers. Instead of posting the main thought of your blog post, use headlines in this case. Other than quotes and daily updates, 140 characters are best used for headlines. Whether you are posting about something intriguing on the news or about a new blog post you made on your site, make your updates on Twitter catchy in order to get clicks.
4. Use common acronyms when writing a post. The internet lingo has a very dynamic vocabulary that will never run short of acronyms and abbreviations. The use of acronyms is very common on the internet and a lot of people know the lengthened form of these commonly used letters such as BRB, LOL, BB, ASAP, BTW, as well as other internet acronyms.
5. Make use of emoticons. Smileys or emoticons are very useful when tweeting. Instead of spelling out a few words, why don’t you use an emoticon instead? Common emoticons such as the smiley face “ : ) ” or “ ^__^ “, or perhaps the sad face “ : ( “, can show your followers more than what words can say. With only three characters, you can express 137-characters worth of statements.
6. For links: There are various Twitter tools on the internet that help in shortening links into 20 characters or less. TinyURL and Bit.ly are the most popular services on Twitter; however, there are other websites out there that also offer the same service for free.

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