Using Twitter but think you should have more followers? Afraid to use Twitter because you don't think you'll have any followers? By following the five basic steps below, you'll go a long way in changing all that.
- Utilize Your Other Online Profiles
Most everyone has additional online profiles such as Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, etc... Regardless of how big or how small... use it to springboard into Twitter. If it’s a blog, mention that you use Twitter in your posts or articles. Link to Twitter from your profile and contact pages. If you’re on Facebook, there's a tool available to link your Tweets to Facebook. Include it on your website, in your email signature, on your business cards and anywhere else you have the opportunity.
- Start Following Others
Look for businesses and people with similar interests and start following them. By following others, you let them know you exist, so they can find you with one click. Sure, some may find you through Twitter directories... but it's better to get out there and start following. This will lead to others seeing you and following you. When this happens... make sure you follow them back. One important note: Twitter is full of spammers, PR junk, and companies that follow you in the hope that you will follow them back. Don't follow them. You'll get nothing butt annoying Tweets that equal the junk mail you get via email and snail mail. That's one reason why I discourage the use of automated services or scripts to add followers. Keep a watchful eye on your follow list and you'll get the most out of Twitter.
- Tweet, Tweet, and Tweet Some More... Oh... and Don't Forget to "Re-Tweet"
The more active you are on Twitter the more likely others will find you and begin following you from within Twitter. Every Tweet comes up on the Twitter Public Timeline... so increasing the number of Tweets can help you appear more often there.
A word of caution however... Tweeting too regularly about nothing worthwhile will cause you to lose followers. Pace yourself and leave room for others to respond. Twitter can actually become quite confusing once you have too many trains of thought going all at once so stick to one topic at a time and create pauses between them to let others interact.
Re-tweeting another person’s post can be viewed as an act of kindness. Those who Tweeted will appreciate it and will be more likely to do the same for you. However, don't expect someone to retweet your content just because you retweet theirs. Remember, retweeting is about providing value to your followers. Generally, people will not retweet your Tweet unless it's informative or helpful to them or their followers.
- Your Tweets Should Have Value
Tweeting on a personal level may be fun... and for many that’s as far as it goes. However, if you’re interested in growing your Twitter influence and audience you need to provide your followers (and potential followers) with value. It’s the same principle as growing a blog. If you help enrich people’s lives in some way they'll be more likely to follow you... want to additional information from you... and pass the information along to friends, co-workers, and colleagues. As a result your Tweets, re-tweets, and replies should "matter". Of course you can toss in a few personal tweets and have some fun with it, but unless you’re providing something useful to people (information, entertainment, news, education etc) they probably won’t follow you for long.
- Tweet During Peak Times
These times will vary depending on where you live and who you want as your audience. It may mean being awake when you'd rather be sleeping... but Tweeting during peak times will increase the chances of your Tweet being visible to your audience rather than get buried and lost beneath all the other Tweets that come in and begine to push yours to the bottom of the list.
In November 2010 there were an estimated 175 million Twitter users with an average of 500,000 being added each day. It's never too late to start. Don’t stress about your numbers. It WILL take time... but if you follow the steps above and genuinely connect with your Twitter followers... the rest will take care of itself.
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