Having a Beginner Mindset on Twitter

Promo image - Having a beginner mindset on Twitter #TwitterSmarter chat with Jeremy Linaburg - March 4, 2021

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Could be today or perhaps a while ago. Regardless, we’re all familiar with the thrill that comes with doing something new and succeeding at it. That’s because when we do something we’re unfamiliar with, we challenge ourselves to have an open mind, learn, and apply what we’ve learned. The same principle applies in business too—having a beginner’s mindset can help you go from strength to strength.

Interesting isn’t it? That’s why we asked Jeremy Linaburg, a long-time #TwitterSmarter member and content strategist, to help us understand more about having a beginner’s mindset. Here’s a summary of our chat.

Guest: Jeremy Linaburg
Topic: Having a beginner mindset on Twitter
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.

Q1: What do you mean by a beginner mindset?

A beginner mindset is the perspective you develop when you delve into something new, either within your industry or outside of it. You may or may not know some details about it already. However, even if you do know what you’re dealing with, having a beginner mindset helps you see things from a point of view you hadn’t seen before.

As Rhea pointed out, a beginner mindset is about accepting that you still have a lot to learn and experience new things.

Look at it like Steve. He considers it as resetting his mindset every day. That helps him to continue to learn.

Q2: How can a beginner mindset help you grow your network?

A beginner mindset eliminates any preconceived notions you may have about people and things. This is good because you enable others to be their authentic self, and give yourself a chance to form genuine impressions about them. When you have a beginner mindset, you don’t have any negativity sulking in the back of your mind.

When you don’t have negativity, as Yewande pointed out, you’ll realise that so many people on Twitter share incredible value and guidance. You’ll see the value of people you didn’t think are valuable to you.

Of course, as Jim reminded us, a beginner mindset is about approaching things as you are new to them. This means you’re always asking questions. Which is a good thing, because that helps you make more lasting connections with people who’re truly helpful.

Q3: Beginners make mistakes. How is that a good thing on Twitter?

Making mistakes is always a good thing. That’s how we learn what’s right and what’s not. If you don’t try two versions of your email subject line, you won’t know what works and what doesn’t. That’s why mistakes are important—as our guest said, what you take away from your mistakes defines you and your community.

And of course, when you make a mistake on Twitter, you can always reply or tweet a follow-up message that offers more context.

For instance, we’ve all seen software providers tweeting out about an outage. They’d follow up with more tweets explaining exactly what went wrong and what they’re doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Not only does that help them explain their situation, but it also helps their customers develop a trust with the brand. It gives them an opportunity to show they’re transparent and responsible, as Janette hinted.

Q4: Can a beginner’s mindset help you create content?

Totally! A beginner mindset is when you know you’re not a now-it-all and you’re keen to try new things. This experimental mindset encourages you to identify new content ideas and new ways to present them. For instance, if you’ve always shared text-based tweets with occasional images, perhaps you’ll see someone do a video reply and want to try that. From there, you might take it to pre-recorded videos and even live video streaming. All that progress comes from having a healthy mindset about willing to learn and experiment.

As Alyx from Charlie Appel Agency said, when you have a beginner’s mindset, not only are you open to trying new things, but you’re also broadminded about receiving and implementing feedback. This is a crucial skill to growing your brand, because you can’t improve unless you’re willing to listen to what your audience wants. If you’re unsure, just try a few polls and your audience will tell you what type of content they want from you. Whatever you do, willingness to learn is key.

Q5: How does a beginner’s mindset impact your Twitter strategy?

Even though a well-defined Twitter strategy can help you plan out your content and drive your social media efforts, it’s important to understand that a beginner’s mindset is about being flexible. You may have to loosen up a bit and embrace the uncertainly that comes with not having a clear strategy.

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a strategy at all. As Marianne told us, the beginner’s mindset keeps you in check with reality so that you don’t assume you know everything. And so, create a strategy where you have the leeway to keep testing and change things as you need. Incorporate a beginner’s mindset even as you begin to develop your Twitter strategy.

Q6: How do you develop a beginner’s mindset on Twitter?

Put yourself out there! The best way to develop a beginner’s mindset is to constantly try new things that’ll help you realise you have more to learn. Keep an open mind about whatever you’re trying and make sure your opinions are your own and aren’t influenced or biased. It may take a while to cultivate the habit of looking at things from a beginner’s mindset, but keep at it, and you’ll get better at avoiding prejudices.

As Dana said, find things that bring you joy. To do that, you have to engage with people constantly. Join Twitter chats, jump into other people’s spaces, share your thoughts, make mistakes, forgive yourself for making mistakes, and learn from those experiences. Repeat.

Q7: Is being a beginner the same as having a beginner’s mindset?

Not necessarily. However, the idea is similar. Let’s say you’ve hired an intern. They are a beginner.

However, even though you’ve been working in the same industry for 15 years, don’t let ego get to your head. Don’t get complacent as Marianne put it, and don’t assume that the new intern doesn’t know better than you. Perhaps they do. Give everyone a chance and give yourself the opportunity to learn from them. That’s the real beginner’s mindset. Hopefully, that intern has a beginner’s mindset too.

Q8: Share some tips to sustain a beginner’s mindset in the long-run.

The best way to always have a beginner’s mindset is by surrounding yourself with beginners. Because they’re still learning the ropes, they’ll inspire you to keep asking questions and finding solutions.

Join people who are not from your industry. That challenges you to constantly be learning new things as you try and engage with them in conversation. And when you make mistakes, take it as an opportunity to improve yourself rather than giving up.

As Rachel put it, consider setting time aside everyday to read about new things and find new people on Twitter. Go out of your routine to identify people and concepts you can learn from.

Finally, let’s close this summary with a reminder from Avery: be humble. We’re all learning.

Well, folks That’s all from me this week. Thanks for reading and for more great thoughts from our chat with Jeremy, have a look at this Twitter Moment that our #TwitterSmarter team member, Joana, put together. We’re always glad to see new faces and hear various experiences and opinions on our chat. So if you’re looking to kill some time on Thursday, join us at 1pm ET for our weekly chat.


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About me, Narmadhaa:

I write all the things—technical and marketing copy to fill the pocket; haiku and short stories to fill the soul. A social media enthusiast, I’m a member of the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and always happy to take on writing gigs.

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