Check list time:
- Twitter account is set up and ready to go
- Started posting some tweets
- Began Following people
Now that you got some momentum going, let's start attracting some Followers shall we? Tweeps btw, means Twitter peeps (your people). As I mentioned in Part III, normally what happens is that people will oblige your Follow by Following you back. It's kind of the polite thing to do.
As you build up your Twitter momentum and start signing yourself up at places like Twellow and We Follow, other people will start naturally finding you on their own. People will differ on this automatic mutual Follow philosophy though, and I'm one of them.
I don't believe that you have to Follow everyone who Follows you. It's not because I'm elitist, it's because I do care about the quality of the people and content I Follow. I am one of those rare top Twitterers who actually takes the time to read bios, click on website links, and reads a whole stream. This is what I look for:
- Positive out look and spirit
- Warm, friendly, personable.
- Can disagree respectfully while being open to listen
- Engages with others
- Offers useful and interesting content a
- Similar interests, values, and subjects or subjects I'd like to learn more about
Another factor driving my Follow choices is the fact that the spammers are starting to infest Twitter rapidly which I will explain in more detail in a later post.
I come from the school of thought that 'd rather have a smaller number yet higher quality of Followers, than just having massive big Follower numbers consisting mostly of spammers, present yet inactive accounts, or negative spirited people.
Lots of people get enamored and obsessed with having huge Follower numbers and don't care who those people are or what they are about because well we still live in a culture that worships bigger is better. There is a quality versus quantity issue, and I'm not saying either one is right or better than the other, it all depends on what you want to get out of your Twitter experience. Me, I'm for quality, and bigger is just bigger which is nice but does not automatically equal better.
Here's my philosophy on building a quality Follower base:
- There is a difference in spirit between "cultivating" Followers and "getting" Followers. Cultivating people's attention starts with a desire to produce quality content, help others, and develop connections with people. Getting Followers is really just a numbers game. There are ways to game the Twitter system in order to just grow your Follower number.
People will promise that you can grow your numbers while you sleep. Be wary of those Internet marketers who offer eBooks or webinars on things like how to get 10,000 Followers in 10 days. To me, the spirit of those Twitter tools are much like the, "Lose 10lbs in a Week." Now, I'm not lumping all of those folks into the spam category, there are indeed some genuinely quality products, you just need to do your homework first and ask around before spending any money.
- What do you stand for? People are attracted to people who stand for something. It doesn't have to be grandiose like world peace or the elimination of starvation, it can be as simple as things like a love of organics, animae, or living in a city. The point is that your passions come through and people can see it and sense it.
- Have a positive attitude. People are attracted to others who focus on the bright side, are inspiring, and uplifting. Now this doesn't mean you have to be Pollyannish, in fact, that would not be real. You can share some of the darker shades of life because we all have bad days and well shitake happens.
- And speaking of real, just be yourself. It's one thing to be inspired by other people's work, but it's another to imitate them. People will buy the Louis Vuitton knock off because it's cheap and creates the illusion of rich, but really, it's not the real thing and everyone knows it. Lesson learned. Be yourself because that is authentic.
- Offer useful content. If you look at the top Twitter users who are known for quality content, the bulk of their content is useful stuff like links to posts & articles, recommendations, factoids, kudos to other people, and original content that is humorous, entertaining, or fun.
- Help others achieve their dreams and goals. One of the things that helped make me popular on Twitter is that once a day, 5 days a week, I do a hydration nudge where I remind people to drink a glass of water and offer a benefit to drinking that water like, "Hydration nudge: Go drink a glass of water. It's calorie free and revitalizing. Water does a body excellent." I started doing the water reminder because one thing people always resolve to do is drink more water, so my hydration nudges are helping people up their healthiness.
There you have it! In our four part series on how to get started on Twitter, we've showed you:
Part I of IV: Easy as Oatmeal, Creating Your Account on Twitter
Part II of IV: Easy as 1-2-3, Let's Get Going With the Tweets and Mingling
Part III of IV: Finding People to Follow, Where Following is Good not Stalkerish
Part IV of IV: The Suave of Attracting Followers
I hope you found these how-to's and tips helpful. Do continue to visit our section on "Getting Started on Twitter" because we'll be adding new content on a regular basis. There is always new things to learn and see which makes Twitter an exciting place to hang out!
