If you're using Twitter to make money, you'll know that your Twitter profile is possibly the most important factor in driving follower growth, traffic, conversions, and sales.

(And if you don't know that, you're probably not making money on Twitter... yet. 🤷)

Why? Because your Twitter profile represents the top of your marketing funnel.

It's the first pit stop in the long pathway/gauntlet that your customers will have to power through before they finally take out their credit card and punch in the 16-digit number, expiration date, and 3 digits at the back and click "Buy."

If you're a Twitterpreneur, your Twitter profile is always your customers' first point of arrival before they follow you and/or buy your offer.

It's the Ellis Island 🗽 of your Promised Land of Twitter Monetization™, so better make it welcoming.

Honestly, by the time they click on your URL and hit your landing page, their mind is already 70-80% made up on whether they want to purchase your offer.

This is why I see high conversion rates as high as 12% on my own landing page for my Twitter automation app, Zlappo; because I send targeted/pre-qualified traffic to my landing page, most people already sort of know that they want to sign up even before they arrive on my landing page.

So say it with me: the top of your sales funnel isn't your landing page but your Twitter profile.

And you know what they say. You can never optimize the top of your funnel enough.

You can always improve, tweak, and optimize the top of your funnel, if not just by flooding it with more leads/traffic.

So without further ado, here is my 8-step ultimate guide that you can use to optimize your Twitter profile:

1. Use 𝖈𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖒 𝖋𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖘 and emojis 🔥🚀💰 in your name

Now. Before anyone even arrives at your profile, they have to click on your name.

If you want them to click on your name, it has to first catch their attention.

And yes, while you can create great content or even comment intelligently to boost your follower growth, you need every advantage on your side to stand out, because psychologically it's very easy to overlook your name in a sea of other names out there unless you employ pattern break, a term I learned from my friend, Agustin (@agustinthedev).

You'll also know that Agustin is the real deal, because he practices what he preaches and actually uses emojis in his Twitter name:

In terms of efforts vs. results, tweaking your Twitter name has to produce the highest ROI in terms of getting profile visits.

Bonus tip: be descriptive when appropriate

E.g. I've seen people offering coaching services preface their names with the label "Coach" or "Coaching," which builds instant credibility and authority, like Seth (@srowlands):

Joe (@CoachJoeHart) also does it right here:

Whatever you can do to differentiate yourself, you should do it.

It's a good rule to follow on Twitter or even life in general.

2. Use a face in your profile picture

A lot of people will probably disagree with this, but it's scientifically proven through eye-tracking studies that human eyes naturally gravitate towards faces.

Even if you want to remain anonymous for whatever reason, it's still infinitely better to use an avatar with a face.

It can be a historical or public figure, like how the Illimitable Man (@TellYourSonThis) uses a picture of Niccolo Machiavelli as his profile picture:

Or how Life Math Money (@LifeMathMoney) uses a picture of an Indian philosopher (?) as his profile picture:

It's not just about where the human eye naturally gravitate towards.

It's also about trust. At the end of the day, people do business with other people whom they like and trust.

Even between large corporations, it's people representing said corporations who move forward and enter into business contracts, let alone solopreneur businesses like ours. Hard to imagine people paying money to people they dislike.

This might be anecdotal, but I haven't seen many accounts that have a logo or other object as their profile picture do exceedingly well in growing their Twitter audience, especially if they're starting from zero.

People don't trust brands unless they're one way or another represented by human beings.

And we live in 2021, the era of the personal brand/influencer, so putting a face out there is more important than ever to build trust, empathy, and a genuine connection.

3. Sell in your cover photo

The general rule is that you shouldn't sell on Twitter, but socialize and interact genuinely with others, and I agree with that.

With one huge caveat: this rule should be flipped on its head in your profile itself.

You'd be an imbecile not to sell in your profile -- this is your time to shine and show the world how fucking awesome you are. This is it.

So when it comes to that gigantic 3,000-by-1,000-pixel real estate at the top of your profile, make it count.

Don't waste it on a picture of the Swiss Alps or your dream Lamborghini Aventador; this ain't your desktop wallpaper!

Here are some people I follow who get their cover photos very right:

a. Provide a short yet compelling value proposition

Jake (@InfoProductJake) helps you to become "healthy, wealthy, and wise."

Who would say no to that? I wouldn't:

Jake is right on the money here in appealing to our deepest desires as human beings: to be fitter, richer, and smarter.

b. Provide a unique selling point

A unique selling point is a value proposition that is special or exclusive to your personal brand.

Plenty of fitness coaches promise you a better-looking body; others promise that you'll feel stronger and healthier.

But a coach that synthesizes the two seamlessly is rare and quite special, like Quint (@tellquint) who promises both "strength and aesthetics:"

(Also notice how Quint carefully picks the word "aesthetics," instead of "look better" or "get fitter" like every other fitness coach out there.)

c. Or my favorite: combine both of the above and plug your URL

Emily (@TheEmilyDyson) is one of the very few I've come across who get this right :

Hell, I (@therealjayber) apply these observations to my own cover photo as well, and this is what I came up with (value prop + USP + URL):

If your URL is short and memorable, you're going to get some curious visitors manually typing it into their browser.

Free traffic.

4. Use your bio for positioning

Without getting into too much technicality about "positioning," positioning is how you want your customers to view your brand in their minds.

It's unique, it fosters certain emotions, and it ultimately inspires action.

So the more specific the better. Why should people follow you? What value are you offering? What makes you so damn special among all the other people offering the same value?

And most importantly, why should people trust you to deliver said value to the extent that they're willing to vote for you with their wallets?

Because that's what it all comes down to: sales, revenue, dollars, dinero.

Here are a few powerful formulas to position yourself in your bio among your competitors:

a. Get granular about who you're helping and with what specific endeavor

For a positioning statement done excellently, see how Vix (@vixinthecity) positions her agency:

b. Establish credibility and authority to stand out

If you have extensive experience or certain achievements worthy of note, this is the place to emphasize them and build serious credibility, like Dontez (@DontezAkram) does in his profile:

c. Start with the problem, agitate it, then offer your unique specific solution

This has to be one of my favorite. Here, John (@Process_Boost) tugs on his target customers' emotional heart strings by painting a vivid picture of the problem he's solving that would undoubtedly resonate with his prospects, and then saves the day by offering his unique specific solution:

There are obviously countless positioning formulas you can use, but the point is you must stand out and own your territory, provide value that everyone else is also providing in a way that no one else can actually provide it.

It's a subtle art that would make a huge difference to your business.

Positioning can make or break your business, so start thinking about it seriously today beyond just your Twitter profile.

5. Don't waste the "location" space

If you're an online business, who gives a rat's ass where you're from, whether it's Bumfuck Nowhere, WY or Super Mega Metropolis, NY?

I admit that this bugs me more than it should, but the location real estate is situated right next to your URL.

Smart people use the location space to include a call-to-action. Not their geographical location.

Again, let's look at Jake and Quint here, because they did this absolutely right:

Such a missed opportunity if you don't use it correctly to include a CTA here.

6. URL MUST BE FILLED UP ALWAYS

Yes, I'm shouting here. Yes, it's justified. Yes, it grinds my gears.

Holy shit. DON'T EVER LEAVE THIS BLANK.

Even if you don't have an offer yet, put a Patreon link there or something.

Anything to collect revenue when/if any of your content goes viral, because otherwise your profile ain't even a bloody funnel.

It's like a funnel... with a lid on top. Try pouring water into it, let alone have it come out of the other end. Ain't gon' work!

I can't believe I need to say this, because I've seen so many Twitterpreneurs with blank URL spaces.

This is NOT the time or place to pull a Taylor Swift and leave a blank space. 😤

(unless you don't like money, in which case what are you doing in a Twitter growth hacking blog!?)

7. Use spare space in your bio for a 2nd offer

Are you running an email newsletter in addition to a Gumroad/Shopify store?

Do you have a podcast in addition to your blog?

Plug it in your bio after your positioning statement, like Nate (@ChroniclesNate) here:

Notice how Nate also uses his location to include a CTA?

It's not a coincidence that Nate has 22.3k followers (as of writing, a figure that'll go outdated really soon, I bet).

Feeder accounts

If you have another Twitter account, mention your other Twitter handle here; direct traffic to the other account as well.

Agustin taught me the idea of feeder Twitter accounts; it's a way to direct traffic from less-targeted but more-popular accounts that you own to your more-targeted but less-popular account to move them through the funnel sequentially (it also works vice-versa).

That's how you can qualify your traffic as well without casting too wide of a net and getting too many unqualified leads that will waste your time later rather than sooner.

8. Keep your follow ratio, um, nice

It's all about optics, and, yes, every single thing matters on your profile.

Even -- as some of you might be thinking -- superficial bullshit like your followers count, following count, etc.

Unfortunately, human psychology is irrational, even though in an ideal world we should all be judged by the merit of our content instead of the size of our following.

Like it or not, perceptions matter a great deal.

The first impression is everything.

As your profile grows, you'll want to maintain the reputation of being an influencer/authority in your own right.

And the best way is to keep your following-to-following ratio low, ideally below 1:10.

Besides, it also increases the quality of your timeline and hence your browsing experience when you actively curate/pick and choose who deserves to appear on your timeline and who doesn't.

Pour conclure

Now that we've covered Twitter profile optimization head-to-toe, I want you to open Twitter in another browser tab, or your Twitter app if you're on mobile, and start fixing stuff.

If it's all too overwhelming, do things in stages: fix your cover photo today, fix the other stuff tomorrow.

Breaking large or intimidating tasks into smaller chunks is possibly the best bulwark against procrastination.

And if that doesn't work, well let me remind you that, with every passing moment you leave your Twitter profile unoptimized, you're losing more and more money, as more and more people arrive at your profile, look at your stuff, and leave unconvinced without clicking Follow or checking out your offer.

Now. Do you really want that to happen?

Or do you want to plug the leak ASAP and start making some serious Twitter money?

Bitch, please. Take action NOW.