I’ve read a few books by Tony Robbins about personal development, and from the reading I got a lot of great tips. The easiest and probably the most powerful advice was that in order to become successful I should learn and copy what successful people are doing.

When it comes to Twitter, I decided today that I wanted to take a closer look at the ten latest tweets from three well-known Twitter experts; Joel Comm, Yaro Starak and Ashton Kutcher and see if we can learn anything just by looking at the tweets.

Let’s begin.

Joel Comm is a famous blogger, author and a business person. He’s written the book Twitter Power. His 10 latest tweets are:

@barefoot_exec you are welcome! @bobhutchins is a great guy. And congrats on the super secret mojo you got workin’ less than a minute ago via web in reply to barefoot_exec

Are you going to AffCon2010? Listen to my appearance on Denver radio this morning –> http://TwitPWR.com/KEy/ (see you at AffCon!) about 2 hours ago via web

@internetdream yeah, but why not zap the huge statue in Rio to make a bigger statement? about 2 hours ago via web in reply to internetdream

Now HERE is a theological paradox! –> http://TwitPWR.com/KEl/ about 2 hours ago via web

Family-Friendly Yippy Chosen #1 Search Engine –> http://bit.ly/amkBZf about 3 hours ago via TweetMeme

Well where else are you supposed to put a goat? –> http://TwitPWR.com/KCu/ about 16 hours ago via web

@ed, you know what? You ARE Twitter. about 16 hours ago via web

Start the Presses (How to write and distribute press releases) | Top One Report http://bit.ly/dynWZ1 about 21 hours ago via TweetMeme

Breitbart.tv » Congressman Assaults Student on Washington Sidewalk: http://bit.ly/9udcnu 7:27 PM Jun 14th via mobile web

It’s a new dawn, a new day, and the world is at your fingertips. Get ‘er done! 5:10 PM Jun 14th via Twitter for iPhone

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Yaro Starak is a famous blogger and he’s having a huge success earning a living from his blogs, his products and as an affiliate. His latest 10 tweets are:

A really solid podcast interview I did for a paid product, just went public (free!) – Blogging For Business: http://bit.ly/acbxyT about 4 hours ago via TweetDeck

@pippostramazza I actually declined 75% of the applications last round. I’m not going to choose people I don’t think can benefit. about 4 hours ago via TweetDeck in reply to pippostramazza

@pippostramazza No, I’m not sure, there are no guarantees. I only take clients where I see potential, hence the application process. about 4 hours ago via TweetDeck in reply to pippostramazza

I just opened up my private coaching- taking FIVE new clients on for 12 weeks starting July – http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/elite/ about 5 hours ago via TweetDeck

RT @GideonShalwick: my latest video blog post: How I Make Money From Video Blogging (Video Interview) http://tinyurl.com/27wd88e about 5 hours ago via TweetDeck

@pippostramazza Convincing regarding what? about 5 hours ago via TweetDeck in reply to pippostramazza

@cominback Great – let me know if you are going to apply and I’ll look for your email. about 5 hours ago via TweetDeck in reply to cominback

Just paid the tax man. My bank balance hurts. about 14 hours ago via TweetDeck

GREAT coaching call folks, some really good stuff in this one. Thanks to the members who joined us and @GideonShalwick my co-host. about 15 hours ago via TweetDeck

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Finally, it’s time for Ashton Kutcher, the expert with the most followers. At the time I’m writing this, he has more than 5 million followers! I don’t think that I have to introduce him, you’ve heard of him for sure.

His 10 latest tweets are:

Good luck today @realkaka http://brizzly.com/pic/2RVJ about 1 hour ago via Brizzly

Y does it seem like the only GOOD thing on the news is the occasional weather report & sports. 2day a lot of healthy babies were born! about 17 hours ago via Brizzly

new music (and wisdom) from the PS22 Chorus – http://youtu.be/XQ65FvokArM about 17 hours ago via Brizzly

CONGRATS!! RT @caro: PS22 Chorus wins Webby artist of the year award, comes onstage for live performance. Huge applause. about 18 hours ago via Brizzly

Pick up the jacket… 5:47 PM Jun 14th via Brizzly

@moonfrye GL!! 5:20 PM Jun 14th via Brizzly in reply to moonfrye

My prediction for game 6. The team with the most points will win! 6:01 AM Jun 14th via Brizzly

Of the lakers lose today what are the chances they can still win the series? 4:04 AM Jun 14th via Brizzly

@AXLSN it’s not mine it’s the car from killers 2:06 AM Jun 14th via Brizzly in reply to AXLSN

I would but its a loaner I gotta give it back RT @lnascimento_rj: I hate @aplusk hahahahahaha, can you lend me 2:06 AM Jun 14th via Brizzly

I think we can learn at least five things from this experiment:

- We need to be personal
- We should answer and ask questions
- We should retweet interesting conversations and resources
- We should use whatever Twitter application we enjoy
- We should tweet at least 5 times a day

Did you learn anything different?

Thousand of followers on Twitter doesn’t help you much. The more members you follow, the less some members will trust you. Some might even think that you are spamming, and that spamming is the only reason why you’re using Twitter. It’s all because of the number of members you’re following.

One of the first very interesting experiences I had using Twitter made me realize that Twitter is about the quality of the conversations, not the quantity.

I never spam, and I do my best to use Twitter the way I believe that it should be used. I never tweet direct sales messages. Therefore, I got surprised when I received the message from an English guy about three weeks ago. He accused me of spamming. The reason he accused me, was all due to the fact that I am following more than 11,000 members, and he said that I can’t possibly join conversations with all of them.

Well, that’s true. But, I asked him, is that what Twitter is all about, having conversations with all the members you are following?

I’m still waiting for his answer.

I believe that there are two things that members don’t understand about using Twitter.

It’s really about:

1. The quality of the conversation
2. It’s about trust

You don’t need to have conversations with hundreds of members at the same time. You need to focus on few members and topics you care about. In order to focus on conversations, you should track the conversations on twitter and search for topics worth tweeting about.

Now, just by adding a comment makes the conversation interesting, and it doesn’t have to be a long one. Chris Ming Ryan told me that he always appreciates my RTs. I replied to him and told him that his blog posts are of such a high quality, therefore, I’ll be sending him RTs for a long time. Now, the conversation ended with him telling me about his two problems when it comes to blogging. Frequency and getting the blog in the hands of more readers. Do you see, it all started with one Retweet, and ended up with something completely different.

When you share your thoughts, join conversations, and focus on quality and not quantity, you’ll eventually gain trust. When members start asking you questions, and start adding you to Twitter lists, other members will recognize you for something a lot different than a sales person.

The big NO is direct selling. Never tweet like this (I received both in my timeline about 5 minutes ago):

“Work at Home to Make Money – Online Based Opportunities – Business …”

“You Could Get Started Today Building A Business From Home For Less Than A Penny! Its Free & Powerful!”

The big YES is to start conversations by asking questions or publish statements. Something like (I received this in my timeline just a few minutes ago):

The four most important words in any marriage: “I’ll do the dishes.”

My bet is, this will get both retweets and some interesting feedback.

Another big YES is to add value to conversations. You could add value to the statement above, by saying that there are three words that are a lot more important (but not as funny) and that’s “I love you”.

If you continue with this, members will recognize you, and they will eventually trust you. They’ll look you up, and visit your website, and they’ll want to know more about you. You’ll get traffic from Twitter because you’re adding value.

About one hour ago I received the following direct message, from a guy I have never talked to, from a guy I don’t know anything about. This was clearly an auto-message, and a first impression I wouldn’t recommend:

“Welcome to my Billionaire world! I HIGHLY recommend this (affiliate link)”

He didn’t send me this message in order to start a conversation, to add value to a conversation or to gain trust. My guess is that very few members, if any, will click on his affiliate link. It’s really hard to say that this is an example of Twitter spam or not, but if it’s not spam, then what is it?