In my last post I have a video showing a few tools that can be used to increase followers on Twitter. I didn't really go into the tools so much because they already either have "how to videos" of their own, or text explaining them.
There are tons of tools out there that will help you get more targeted followers, but I wanted to share a couple of things I learned that seems to work. I've been spending time (perhaps too much time) testing and finding out the psychology of Twitter.
I found a great resource from @emailcopywriter
who looks at Twitter the way I do, in a human behavior and psychological point of view. Study some of the articles at his blog and you can get a peek inside the minds of Twitter users and start attracting them to you.
One aspect of Attraction Marketing (there are many) is too attract a specific audience and talk about what it is they like to hear about. It goes way beyond "make money", "coach", "mentor", etc. People now see those terms everyday all day long. It's sort of like looking out at a field of snow-it all looks the same.
I think a big mistake that allot of people make or have made (including myself) is to try and be all things to everyone. It's not possible. We all are unique in our own way, and sometimes people who click with you may not click with me, and vice versa. Let people know who you are, what your likes are, what is important to you, what you can do for them, etc.
A quick couple of tips I learned
If your Twitter profile shows you are following the maximum of 2,000 people, you will have trouble getting more followers. The reason is, in a way, psychological. When a visitor sees you're following 2,000 people, they may think to themselves "Why should I follow them, they can't follow me back because they are at their limit".
By watching the video in my previous post, you can see how to go to the last page on your "following list" and see who isn't following you back, who has abandoned their profile, who might be way out in left field and someone you really don't want to follow, etc. Work your way backwards through those pages and start to remove people until you are below 1,900. This will show new visitors that you are not at your limit and have the ability to follow them back.
Another way to increase followers, is to open conversation with people. Use Tweetdeck or something similar. Try to converse with a few new like minded people everyday by responding to their feed using @ and not DM. This will get you more exposure and show people you are active. It will also reveal your interests and a little bit about your personality.
Use a service (I know, I know, I said I would never use one) that sends out an auto DM to your new followers. Be careful to craft a decent message that stands out from the crowd. Don't create a DM that looks like every other marketer's DM with a link to an e-book, capture page, or more tips. If they want to see your tips, they will do so because they are interested in you and follow your link in your Bio.
For instance, my auto-DM message says something like "Charles Graham here extending to you my hand in an electronic handshake. I'm from the Twin City area in MN. Pleasure to meet you"
In this DM, there are no links, I'm not pushing an e-book, capture page, or sales pitch. I'm just saying "hello". Trust me, I get DM's back all day long from people who read that message and love to reveal a little more about themselves. It makes it personal, even though I'm using an auto DM, because I crafted a personal message, and not a sales pitch. Try it out, you will be surprised. Remember to change it once in a while.
Another tip: As cheesy as it may sound, people LOVE inspirational quotes. If they are good, and unique, they will RT them, giving you more exposure. You can get a book of quotes and then enter them into Twitter but make sure to give the original author credit. Sometimes I create my own and get allot of ideas just by reading quotes, then forming my own.
You can also find inspirational quotes online, but then you also run the risk of everyone else using the same quotes. Choose quotes that are buried in searches and that have tons of pages of them. Don't use the quotes on the first few pages, dig in. Add your own spin to it, make it unique.
Finally, FollowFriday is a way to increase followers as well. Remember, Friday starts Thursday night in many parts of the World. It moves fast and can be dizzying. I won't give an opinion as of yet on this as I've only participated FollowFriday once at the time of this writing. Almost everyone thanked me for recommending them for FollowFriday, but one person was a little upset and told me he wants to get to know the 400 followers he has before he adds 20,000 more.
Just be aware that while most people in marketing circles understand more numbers are better, not everyone thinks that way and to just be respectful of that. That is a whole debate that needs to be left for another day.
Twitter is growing like crazy and I don't know where it will go, but because of it's simplicity I think it will continue to grow in a massive way for a long time. It's a fantastic "personal branding" tool when properly used. For new people, Twitter may look like one of the corniest things they've seen online. Corny or not, people love it and just like anything else online, the only way to get a grasp of it is to use it via trial and error, along with some training thrown in.
-Charles Graham
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