I’m pretty active on Twitter and I often mention articles I’m working on in my tweets. I even look for sources by posting requests on Twitter. I’ve connected with more than a few PR specialists through the site, too — and I’ve been seeing something that worries me. I’ve gotten more than a few bad pitches through my Twitter account lately, and the number seems to be growing. Now, I don’t mind pitches — especially when I’m specifically requesting help to find sources. If I’m running on empty as far as ideas, I actually like them. But there are definitely differences between good pitches and bad pitches on Twitter. If you want to move into the good category, take a look at these tips.

1. Make sure I can contact you: even if you can fit a whole quote into 140 characters, I may need to follow up with you with a question longer than 140 characters myself. You don’t need to broadcast your email address to the whole site, but either DM it to me or make it easy to contact you through whatever website is listed in your profile.
2. If you’ve got more than 140 characters, ask for my email address: I’ll happily give out my contact information as long as I don’t have interpret messages missing all the vowels. This is especially true of people who are suggesting themselves as sources for an article I’m working on — I’m going to paraphrase any quote that looks like it could be in Welsh and, if I get it wrong, all I can do is apologize.
3. Give me context: If you send me a link out of the blue with nothing more than ‘Check this out’ as an explanation, I’m probably going to ignore it. And if it’s a shortened link, it’s highly unlikely that I’ll click on it. But if you give me a little more context or an explanation of why I’ll care about the link, you’ve got a much better chance.
4. Engage in conversation: There are folks on Twitter who do nothing but promote their own interests. I pretty much ignore those people. If you want to stay out of that category, you need to engage in a little small talk. Heck, talk to me about what your cat is doing. At least it’ll make you look human and not cause me to believe that you’re just a bot.
5. Start on Twitter but move when necessary: As much as I love Twitter, it’s not really the best venue for all conversations. It can act as a starting point, making it simple to connect with a wide variety of people, but it’s important to recognize when it’s time to switch to a phone call or an email.