Twitter is no different than any Social Networking site when it comes to growing your network. If anything it is more challenging because you can only efficiently contact people who are already following you! So the key to making Twitter work for you is to find followers IN YOUR NICHE!
Hopefully you noticed the emphasis on which followers you want to attract. Sheer numbers won’t do it – especially now that Twitter limits how many you can follow. Instead of wondering What Happens If I Hit a Limit at Twitter be proactive – follow the Twitter users you most want to follow you.
Fortunately for us, there is a perfect tool for finding the perfect Twitter relationships: Twellow.
Don’t be put off because Twellow says it is in beta. It works so well you don’t want to delay. Start using it right away. You probably won’t need any special assistance to figure it out (but if you do leave a comment and we’ll answer your questions and point you to any appropriate links).
Simply select the businesses you are interested in. [Hints: Blogging is under Media and Internet Marketing is under Marketing.] Then select “sort results by followers count” (upper right) and you instantly know who the serious Tweeters are in that niche. (Or at least those with the most followers.)
You can click follow right from the results page, check out the Twitter profile or click through to the user’s Web site. Then be sure to finish the following process on the Twitter page that opens. Now you’re following the Twitter users with the largest following in your target audience instead of random Twitter users.
These serious Twitterers are more likely to follow you back, visit your blog or business, become your subscribers, mention you online, or tell others at Twitter. (They’re interested in what you’re interested in, remember?)
Even if they don’t actively mention you, your Twitter profile showing up among those they follow can attract followers too. When your own Twitter profile is visited it won’t be difficult for potential followers to figure out that your follows are very targeted, making both you and your followers more attractive.
WARNING: Remember what we mentioned at the beginning of this post about limits. All Social Networking sites have a love-hate relationship with online marketing types – especially those who have programming skills. While these users are very likely to help new sites grow exponentially, they also figured out quickly How to Game Twitter which resulted in the Twitter Follow Limits.
If you don’t want to hit the limits, don’t act like a bot or computer program, i.e., don’t just click follow, follow, follow and add tons of users all at once. Act like a human. Be selective, visit Twitter profiles and sites BEFORE you click follow. Once you hit those follow limits it looks like they keep reducing how many you can follow – possibly indefinitely – and you don’t want to be penalized that way.
Be a wise Twitter user: select your target Twitter audience systematically and intentionally.
And be sure to add your own Twitter profile and blog or business URL to your Twellow profile. Twellow is filled with other wise Twitter users and you want to ensure they can find you.
NEW TIP on USING TWELLOW:
If you are adding from a large list that spans many pages (blogging for example is currently 499 pages!) you can get back to where you are by writing down the number you’re on and copying and pasting the URL of the page.
(I save it to Tomboy Notes but any place you can remember will do.) I finish a page and then record the number and URL for the next page to start again later. The reason to do this is that there is currently no way to jump to a particular page and moving forward one at a time is NO fun.
If you forgot to record the page note the format of the current page and then change the last two digits to the page number you need. For example, if you are on
- http://www.twellow.com/category_users/cat_id/78/page_num/14 (page 14 of bloggers)
- you can jump to any other page of bloggers by changing the last two numbers to the page you want
- For Example: http://www.twellow.com/category_users/cat_id/78/page_num/17 would be page 17
If you know what number you ended on you can guess which page you need by divided by twenty. (There are twenty per page.)
USING TWITTER RESOURCES:
- TwiTips – Darren Rowse‘s Blog devoted solely to Twitter Tools and Tips including Follow Me – Ten Easy Tips for Twitter Beginners
- Business Week’s CEO’s Guide to MicroBlogging
- Harnessing Twitter to Increase Your Blog’s Traffic – Insights from Josh over at UniqueBlogDesigns
- Big Juicy Twitter Guide – Twitter Guide 2 Socializing with Twitter
RELATED POSTS ABOUT TWITTER:
- Scobleizer – The Secret to Twitter
- Locker Gnome: Would You Pay for Twitter Pro?
- TopRankBlog Poll: How Do You Use Twitter (be sure to read the comments)
- TopRankBlog: Five Twitter Tools You Should Know – this post offers some interesting strategies on who to follow: “…find out really popular Twitterers that your competition is NOT following and follow them. This may provide an opportunity to connect with their sphere of influence while they’re not looking.”
- Dear Twitter – a Message from Chris Brogan. (If Twitter doesn’t listen to Chris, who DO they listen to? Comments in this Nov 28, 2008 post let us know what the current issues with Twitter are.)
- Seth Godin on Twitter – You Will Be Misunderstood
- Another View on What Seth Godin Said About Twitter – Marketing Specialist Jim Connolly‘s take on why Twitter is different for us than it is for Seth. He makes some excellent points worth reading here – and don’t miss the comments. Often the most gold is found in the discussions so encourage them. Answer them. And if you’re not Seth Godin certainly don’t turn them off! Reward them with dofollow and grow your blog’s popularity!
- If Markets are Conversations then Twitter is Money
- How and Why I Use Twitter
- Beginning at the Beginning in Social Media and Twitter – one new user’s observations
Gail Gardner
I haven’t used Twellow before. Now I know its purpose. It is worth to try.
@Collegiate Chris The 2000 following limit is a real time waster for me. Every day I have to unfollow enough people I’m following to allow me to follow my new followers. I had hoped that hassle would end when I hit 2000 but it doesn’t.
I AM glad that Twitter suspends people whose only interest is to gather followers so they can SPAM them. I just wish they would relax that limit for those of us who are active and respectful users of their system.
Thank goodness for FriendOrFollow and SocialToo. If I didn’t have these tools to identify who to unfollow it would take even more of my time – and time is our most valuable asset.
i for one enjoy the limits twitter sets…think about how many people are out here trying to make an honest living, doing it the “right” way…others, that have more time, and money, can ruin what we as the worker bees are trying to do, which is create social media interactions with new and interesting people, that share common interests.
@Adrian You are right, of course. You do have to do all those things – once you figure out who to follow and contact so you can get started.
I would argue and say the biggest contributor to a successful Twitter presence is to interact with your followers, listen to them, and provide answers to their questions. This will build a life long bond of trust and respect, and from there the sky is the limit.
Full speed ahead !
Adrian Eden’s last blog post..Social Media, Social Networking, and You!