Four Twitter Tips To Increase Your Following
Early last summer I paid someone I met on Twitter to find me more targeted followers. She was a mutual friend of a colleague so it’s not like she was just some random total stranger. I actually called her prior to paying my money to assure myself that I was not getting scammed. She emphatically stated that I could easily buy Twitter followers and she could attract literally thousands of like-minded, business people to my Twitter account. Why not? I paid and sat back and waited.
Sure enough, the followers starting coming in droves. More than 100 in an hour. Cool! Wait, not so much. I looked at the profiles and the majority did not have profile pictures, had no bio and few followers. Hmmm… I emailed the lady and inquired. She said to be patient, that “always happens” in the first few hours. I waited. Things got worse. My next 250 followers were nubile teenagers in compromising poses. This was not good. I called and told her I wanted my money back and I wanted all of these new “targeted” followers gone. Her response was one of surprise, stating, “this kind of thing has never happened.” Well, it was happening now and she did refund my money, but I had to unfollow all of these less than desireable creatures. Lesson learned, never buy followers, ever.
Twitter is a great way to make connections, but it does take effort and patience. This week on The Social Networking NewsHour my guest was Michelle McCullough, of The Start Up Princess. Michelle enjoys a Twitter following of over 200,000 people. She has been onTwitter since 2008, so this number did not happen overnight, and, she worked hard at growing her following. On the show she shared her four-point strategy.
1) Follow at least ten to fifteen new people a day. People who are movers and shakers who have more followers than you.
2) Reach out and start conversations with industry leaders and people who are experts in their field.
3) Ask questions. And answer them when people respond. Keep the engagement high.
4) Research hashtags and use them correctly. See what hashtags are trending and, if appropriate, use them in your Tweets for more eyes on your message.
All of these tips are excellent. Twitter is like a cocktail party, a fast-moving conversation. Michelle implements her strategy and it works for her. She also sets aside a couple of hours a week to plan her social media marketing activities.
I am a true believer in quality over quantity. If I wasn’t, I would probably still have hundreds of half-naked women following me and never contributing anything worthwhile on my Twitter stream.
Listen to our entire podcast and hear more about Michelle and how Twitter has brought her press coverage, speaking engagements and more. And whatever you do, stay away from people who want to take your money to get you a big number. So not worth it.
Laurie Hurley is a social media consultant, mentor, and coach. She is a sought-after speaker and enjoys helping entrepreneurs build their following in legitimate ways!
12 Comments:
By Louise Edington 14 Feb 2013
Great tips Laurie and I know Michelle as you know
I would use them if I could be bothered with twitter these days lol.
By Laurie Hurley 14 Feb 2013
I know you are a Facebook and Google + junkie! But thanks for reading it anyway and commenting.
By Susan Berland 13 Feb 2013
These are great tips. I noticed that a tweet today got favorited and RT’d more than any other before so I’m paying attention to what I said and what hashtags I used. With the change in my business I’m noticing a definite increase in follows and engagement. Just the universe say, “You go, girl!”
Susan Berland
By Laurie Hurley 13 Feb 2013
A little strategy goes a loonggg way!
By Louise 13 Feb 2013
Buying followers on Twitter is something I’ve always sworn I’d never do, which is now verified by your post above. Sorry you had to go through that though Laurie, but those four tips are pretty sound advice!
I learnt about hash tags the hard way… I’m a little more… errr… cautious (?) with them now, but a hard lesson learnt, as you said.
Blessings and thanks for the tips!
By Laurie Hurley 13 Feb 2013
Learning the hard way usually sticks with us longer! Hashtag stuffing is never a good idea. Glad you enjoyed the tips!
By Angelina 13 Feb 2013
I love this and took tons of notes. Thank you for sharing.
By Laurie Hurley 13 Feb 2013
You are welcome, Angelina. Michelle is fantastic!
By Jan R Miesse 13 Feb 2013
Great info and you are so right! Beware, there are scams everywhere.. even in Twitter! .. We need good followers – not bots.
Have a beautiful day! Jan
By Laurie Hurley 13 Feb 2013
Thanks for commenting, Jan. It’s so easy to want to keep up with the Jones’, i.e. you see someone with a ton of followers, and wonder how the heck they did that! Over the years I have realized it is about quality not quantity.
By Laurie Hurley 13 Feb 2013
Yes, it was quite the nightmare, but she did refund me. Funny, I just saw yesterday that the lady of whom I am speaking has another job. She posted on Facebook. Wonder why? hahahahaha Thanks for commenting!
By Joanna 13 Feb 2013
Phew, glad you got your money back. Thanks for the podcast, I have earmarked to listen to Michelle later.