As a Go-Giver Coach, I am always looking for ways to add additional value to the people I serve with my messages on Twitter.  An often overlooked method of adding more value to your community – something so simple, yet massively powerful in creating goodwill, is building trust and rapport, and establishing a positive mental image in the minds of everyone reading your tweets.

It’s been said that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.  When someone uses your name, when in conversation with you, it creates a bond, shows respect, provides validation and instills a general sense of well-being.

On Twitter, it can be very easy to have chats with people and never think about using their name, rather relying on their Twitter handle as their name.  In some cases, their name and handle are the same or a variation of their name.  But as Twitter grows, most of the common names will have already been taken, forcing new accounts to create a unique handle that may represent their company or mission.

It is in these situations that I would like to challenge you all to explore their account information or website to learn their name, and begin to refer to them by name in your conversations with them.

Many of the Twitter applications will include the name of the account it was created with, or was included in the User Name in their Twitter Settings.

This is probably a good time to review your own Twitter Profile, and determine if you made it easy for people to know your name.  If they can’t find it, you’ll miss out on the opportunity and good feelings discussed above when someone mentions you by name.

In addition to learning the names of the people you may already be chatting with and not using their name – start using their names in every tweet between the both of you.

The extra credit assignment is to: 1) search out people asking questions that your services can provide a solution; 2) start a conversation using their name – without pitching, to build trust and rapport; 3) allow them to discover naturally what you do and how you will be able to serve them.

Go boldly into the Twitterverse, and create even better relationships by remembering and referring to the people you are chatting with by name.  When you give respect and validation first, you’ll be amazed on how much more will be returned to you from unexpected people at unexpected times.

Happy Tweeting!

Schedule a Twitter Strategy Session with Gary today, to learn how you can be an even better Twitizen.

PS – the next #GaryLoperTwitterParty is coming Oct 5 at 12 pm ET, save the date!