People are forever sharing links to interesting articles and blog posts on Twitter. That's fine. But I do think you can overdo this. It's a good idea to make a good proportion of your tweets your own tips, tricks, insights and thoughts. 

They build authority and hone writing skills

There are many benefits from doing this. Perhaps the main one is that they can truly impress your followers. People can tell that you know your stuff because of what you say, not just because of what you share. So they help build your authority quickly. 

Then there's the fact that the limited space you have to use for this requires discipline. You have to cut right back to the central point. So it's a great writing exercise.

If you can get into the habit of doing this, all the better. Practice makes perfect, as they say. Do this enough and you'll start to find yourself thinking up pithy one liners and insights in your spare time. Then when you next log into Twitter, you'll probably have a few up your sleeve all ready to post. 

Can be used in other media

And you should save them on a file because you can use these tips and tricks elsewhere. A compilation of them on a specific subject makes a great blog post. They can also be used in other online and offline media. 

Speeches in particular are a great place for them. As well as live speeches at networking events, etc, you can rattle them off in front of a video camera and upload them to YouTube.

Speaking to camera for a couple of minutes is an oft-used approach of course. So you'll be up against a lot of competition. But you'll be jamming the same number of good insights into a two minuter that you would normally put into one three times as long. And because you're relating a bunch of useful insights that are crystallized and powerful, you'll speak confidently and convincingly. So your content will stand out amongst all the rambling, low quality stuff and attract more engagement as a result. 

They entail a possible risk

There is a potential downside to this overall approach, however. And that is that you might be giving away some of your best lines on Twitter and other social sites. Because they're concentrated and powerful, other people might start to use them, claiming them as their own. 

That said, in the same way that Twitter is making such plagiarism easier, it's also supplying you with a time stamp that shows you created the quote -- well, at least for a while until Twitter dumps your data. That's why you should also share it on another social network, and include it on your blog. 

If you are worried about this possibility, then it's advisable to keep your very best short insights to yourself. Maybe you can save them all up, then put them in a book? 

It's been well established that certain tactics on Twitter result in more retweets. One of these is simply to ask for them. Do that, and you're sure to get some people who will oblige. 

So it's definitely worth a shot. But I wouldn't overdo it. You'll could easily across as being too demanding then. 

The reason I've come to this conclusion is because there is one blogger in my network who now includes the request in pretty much every single tweet he sends out. It's just so tiresome. And it makes me feel resentful and annoyed. Frankly, I'm even thinking of unfollowing this guy. And that's saying something because he is a good blogger. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thinking this way ... 

The reason I find it so annoying is not just that it's so predictable. It seems to fly in the face of the whole spirit of Twitter. The microblogging site is all about freely helping and informing others.

Sure, everyone is on there to promote themselves, a businesses or a cause. But the best way to do that is to be as generous as you can. Give without expectation of reward, and it will all come back in spades. So if someone is always asking for something from his followers, it really stands out. 

That's not to say you shouldn't ever ask for retweets. Like everything, moderation is key. Just include this request from time to time. Then it will not seem onerous, and people will be happy to oblige more often than not.

There's no doubt that including links to blog posts and articles in your tweets is a good idea. Among other things it's well established that tweets that contain links get more retweets than those without, on average. Still, I believe that including some tweets without links is a good tactic. 

You're own expertise comes to the fore

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, if all you do is send people to blog posts and articles written by other people, your followers won't really know what you're about. While they will appreciate the fact that you can point them in the direction of good content, they'll have greater respect for you if you can occasionally communicate useful concepts succinctly within the site itself. 

Links can be boring, and risky

Also, I think many people get sick of clicking on links after a while. I know I do.

Then there's the risk that links to other sites constitute. Sure, if your followers already know and trust you they won't worry that the link you've included goes to a risky site or just some lead capture page. (That's why you should always check all links you are tweeting and retweeting first, so you know that they're not dodgy or spammy.)

But if someone hasn't seen you before they don't know how reliable you are in this regard and may not follow you as a result. So, if you tweet some self contained tips and insights it will show them that you are a genuine and knowledgeable person. They'll come to respect and trust you a bit more quickly. Then, having gotten to know you a little, they're more likely to follow you as well as click on the links you do include. 

They can be collated for further use

The other advantage of tweeting link free tweets: You can collate them into lists on the same subject as you go. So then you'll have raw material for blog posts and articles down the track. 

They are still very shareable

And while tweets with links tend to get more retweets, a well crafted offering that's entirely self-contained can get shared many times over. That's one reason so many tweeps send a constant stream of "wisdom quotes" by well known authors to their followers. People enjoy reading them and retweet them a lot. The person who tweeted builds their network more easily as a result.

Knowing how powerful these tweets can be, it's definitely worth creating your own general or niche-specific wisdom tweets, then. They'll stand out in the streams of your followers and be shared around quite a bit. They'll show your followers how thoughtful and insightful you can be, too, and help build you a strong reputation as an expert. 

Like many people I love to blog. I also have a lot of interests. So whenever I want to share information that I have learned I tend to start a blog about the subject. I always begin each one with a lot of enthusiasm but after a while having several blogs can become a burden. That's because you feel constant pressure to keep them all updated. And unless one of them starts to draw substantial traffic, you can feel like you're not making much headway with any of them.

That's why I really love Twitter. Yes, it's a social networking site, but it's also a blogging platform in its own right. Actually its not unlike Blogger -- but on a smaller, faster scale. So you can still record your thoughts on any subject and have them read by others, and thereby get the same sense of enjoyment out of the process, but with far less time and effort expended.

And unlike with traditional blogging, the social networking aspect of Twitter enables you to gain many times more readers at a much faster pace. So you can achieve a similar level of influence in a much shorter space of time.

For these reasons tweeting can actually completely supplant blogging. And I think it does for a lot of people.

Nonetheless, there's a lot to be said for maintaining a blog. You can explore a subject and express your thoughts much more thoroughly in a post of several hundred words than in a tweet limited to 140 characters. That's why so many tweeps keep their blogs going.

Foe these people, Twitter is an extremely useful complement to blogging. Once you have a decent following of people who share your interests, you can tweet each and every blog post and draw a substantial amount of extra traffic to them. It's a bit like having an e-mail list in that regard.

And as well as Twitter being microblogging in the true sense of the word, it can also be seen as pre-blogging. Each tweet expressing some thought, observation or tip can be expanded into a more comprehensive, nuanced article that you can then publish on your blog.

For these reasons alone I think Twitter is an excellent content creation and promotion tool. Just as any webmaster would be mad not to have a blog as part of his website, any blogger would be crazy not to be active on Twitter!

No matter what niche you're in on Twitter, tweeting tips is a really good strategy for several reasons:

They are useful

People love stuff they can use. All the better that they can be read quickly and are easily absorbed. Offer quality tips and your followers will appreciate it. they'll keep an eye out for more whenever they log in. There's a good chance they'll retweet them too.

They stand out

Remember that a lot of tweets contain links. Actually, it seems to be the norm in most niches. Yet a tip is self-contained and link free. Such little short tweets do tend to stand out amongst the others. People appreciate the fact that they don't have to click on a link -- another reason they like to read them. 

They build authority

Just as good content on a blog builds authority, high quality tips will do the same on Twitter. After a while you'll start to be seen as an expert. More followers and greater influence will ensue.

They are worthwhile on their own

Even if you don't actually tweet all the tips you come up with, just formulating them would be worthwhile. This is because creating them requires that you think hard about your niche, recall the lessons you have learned and pick out the ones that are most useful to others. Then you have to put each bit of advice into less than 140 characters. This is a good writing exercize apart from anything else.

They can be collated

Tips are crystallized, concentrated nuggets of wisdom. And if you create them regularly, before too long you'll have dozens of them on various themes. You can choose one particular theme and then collate all your best tips on it and put them all in a blog post. As bloggers know well, readers love those list posts. They get shared a lot too!

They are great reminders

By crafting these tips and sharing them with others on Twitter, you're also reminding yourself of the tactics that work -- tactics that you may have stopped using for one reason or another. So you can take your own good advice, make a point of utilizing these approaches and reap the rewards.