Before You Sign Up for Twitter

So you're ready to give Twitter a try—terrific! But where do you start? Here is a series of posts of things I wish someone had told me when I was first getting started on Twitter:

1. How to choose your Twitter name
2. Your Twitter profile and first impressions
3. Twitter background: don't do it!
4. Tweet before you follow

I plan to address practical issues of using Twitter in a separate series, Twitter Practical How-to's. But what about the initial setup—is there anything else you would recommend to people who are just getting started?

(If you haven't decided about Twitter, see my series Why Twitter?)