Beginner’s Guide to Twitter Review: Good info for new users

Summary: Beginner's Guide to Twitter is a downloadable ebook for new Twitter users. Good tutorial and advice for the Twitter beginners. Rating: 2.5/5

Mike Cliffe-Jones' Beginner's Guide to Twitter is a eBook for people who have never used or are just getting started to use Twitter. The eBook goes through all the Twitter basics, nothing new for a Twitter veteran, but great for a total beginner. You can buy Beginner's Guide to Twitter for $12 from the official site.

Beginner's Guide to Twitter by MikeCJ

This is a review of Beginner's Guide to Twitter -eBook by Mike Cliffe-Jones (known as MikeCJ). I first got connected to Mike through his blog and a coaching course we both took. However, I've gotten to know Mike better through Twitter, which goes on to show that Mike knows how to Twitter should be used and because of that, Mike is one of the "tweeps" whose tweets I pay close attention to.

I've written my share of social media posts and articles lately, but I've concentrated on more detailed guides than an introductions to these tools, so I was happy when Mike offered me the opportunity to see what his guide is all about...

Why You Should Be Using Twitter?

Mike, myself and thousands of other bloggers use Twitter extensively. And with great results. It has been proven by many bloggers that Twitter is one of the best, if not *the* best, ways to drive traffic to your blog and the best way to connect to other people while staying connected to large amount of friends, readers and customers at the same time. If you're not using Twitter yet, it's time to get your head out of the bushes and jump in. You won't regret it.

If you haven't used Twitter yet, this eBook from Mike can help you get started. But before we dive into the actual review, I wanted to tell you that Mike gave me this copy of Beginner's Guide to Twitter for review as he figured that this could be useful to my readers. So I received the copy of the guide directly from Mike and I didn't buy it myself (as I'm already experienced Twitter user). Also, if you choose to buy the guide after visiting Mike's blog through the links in this review, I will receive small commission for the sale.

But now, let's take a look at what's the Beginner's Guide to Twitter is made of and is it any good?

Contents of the Beginner's Guide to Twitter

• Getting your head around Twitter – It's like CB Radio
  • At the beginning, Mike gives an introduction to Twitter and does a great job on explaining what it is, even if one has absolutely no idea what Twitter is.
• Deciding on your objectives with Twitter
  • The focus of the guide is on bloggers and this section explains what you can expect from Twitter and set your goals accordingly.
• Choosing a Twitter name & Signing up to Twitter
  • If you are not using Twitter yet, these sections are helpful. I would add that if you haven't started building your Twitter presence yet, you can change your Twitter name on the fly, so it's not too late to get rid of weird name like "Zemalf".
• Understanding the Twitter web interface
  • Good introduction to the Twitter web interface and setting up your profile. I would have liked bit more details about setting up nice background for Twitter profile and such advanced Twitter tricks, but other than that, good solid information for a new user.
• Tweetdeck; Downloading, Understanding TweetDeck columns & Setting up searches
  • Personally, I use TweetDeck and have been extremely happy with it and it's the client of choice for Mike as well.
  • Other applications are not features in the guide, but TweetDeck is the most popular client for Twitter and it's a great starting point. After you gain a little bit experience on Twitter, you can take a look at other clients if they are more fitting for you.
• Twitpic & Using your mobile phone
  • Introductory sections on Twitpic and mobile phone usage, nothing special, but useful nevertheless. These are related to TweetDeck as it has Twitpic and other services integrated and TwitterDeck is also available for iPhone.
• Following people & Checking your new followers
  • The guide does not go into detail on how to build followers, but on a beginner's guide level, the chapter does explain the basics and how to start looking for people to follow and how to get followers yourself.
  • As a side note, I like how Mike stays away from autofollowing services and similar "shady" services, this section is no exception.
• What to Tweet about & Mistakes to avoid
  • This is probably the best section in the guide and will help any Twitter user to become "a better Tweep". The only downside is that the section is only one page long, as I had the hunger for more.
• How to become an authority
  • No silver bullet to glory here, but "how to use Twitter the RIGHT way". Mike's own Twitter usage is a great example that these principles do work. Last time I checked Mike was in the top 20 for most influental bloggers on Twitter (according to WeFollow.com).
• Celebrities on Twitter
  • The takeaway from this is that there are celebrities on Twitter and then there are those who pose as celebrities. The "Verified Account" symbol is explained here as well.
• Other Twitter tools & Some URLs for Twitter Tools
  • To finalize the guide, Mike lists couple of useful Twitter tools and links

In total, all chapters are one or two pages long, giving introduction to the topic, without going into too much details. The 29 pages of the guide are an introduction to Twitter, a true beginner's guide, so experienced Twitter users won't get much, if anything, out of this one. But as the guide is meant for beginner's, it does a good job giving out everything that a new user needs to know.

Is the Beginner's Guide to Twitter for You?

In short, if you're a new user or haven't used Twitter at all, this eBook will be useful for you. On the other hand, if you're already using Twitter, there's very little this book can give you, thus the "Beginner's" in the title...

This guide is for you, if you are

• New Twitter user. You have registered an account but haven't really started using as you've been confused about the whole thing
• Not using Twitter yet. The guide explains everything you need to do and know when starting to use Twitter
• Looking for one-stop source of information what Twitter is about and how you can use it yourself

I think this guide is not for you, if you are

• Using Twitter already. You have probably learned the ropes already and know what you're doing
• Looking for detailed guide on specific issues with Twitter. This is a true beginner's guide and none of the sections are detailed "How to's" on the subject.
• Want to spend time, search and look for information from the Internet instead of paying a bit to get fast.

Beginner's Guide to Twitter - The Review

Summary

The information on the Beginner's Guide to Twitter is nothing that can't be found around the web already, but the guide does a good job putting it all together and providing everything you need to get started in one eBook. And the price of $12 the guide is very affordable.

Now that I've used Twitter extensively already, the guide has very little little new things for me, but it took me several months to "get it" with Twitter when I started using it, and this kind of guide would have been very useful back then.

Would I have paid $12 for it? I'm not sure, I'm kinda cheap on things I can find for free on the Internet. But is it worth it to spend time to search for the information from multiple sources, get distracted and even then not be sure if there's something missing? Probably not, the smart me would've said: Pay the $12 and use the time for something productive, but occasionally I can't help myself.

With that said, Twitter has become one of the most important ways to build relationships and connect to other people, and if you're not using it yet, you definitely should. This is particularly important for bloggers. With that, if you're not in Twitter yet, I think you should start using it today. And Mike's Beginner's Guide to Twitter will help you get started and on the right track from the start - as you can download it to your computer right way, you don't have to wait a bit.

Mike is super helpful and friendly fellow and best of all, Mike keeps it real, there's no "black hat" Twitter tactics, abusive methods or anything like that in the eBook.

So, if the above "is this guide is for you?" -part applies to you, you might find the guide useful. If you find that this guide wasn't for you after buying it, Mike is giving the guide a full 60 day refund period. So if you feel like you could use some help to get started, buy the guide, keep it if it helps you get started. If not, you can get your money back.

Where Can I Buy the Beginner's Guide to Twitter?

If you're interested in getting started with Twitter, you will find all the details about the eBook and buy the guide from Mike's blog...

CLICK HERE to buy Beginner's Guide to Twitter from MikeCJ

p.s. If you have any questions or something else on your mind about this review or the Beginner's Guide to Twitter, go ahead and leave a comment!