“If you want to have friends, be a friend.”

You’ve heard this before, but it’s still true, online and off: You have to give to get back.

Engagement is a huge part of a successful Twitter experience, but how do you even get started? In Twitter Followers: 10 Ways To Grow Your Following, Bridget Willard stresses that retweeting is just a small part of cultivating your Twitter community, much as it generates goodwill.

Engagement also involves having real conversations, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to join a good Twitter chat on a topic you know or are interested in. Even in 140 characters, you can exchange great thoughts.

But if you’re not ready to step into that often frenetic stream of tweets and thoughts, check out her list for more excellent tips. And happy tweeting!

(Cute Twitter birds here.)