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3 Reasons Why People Will Follow You on Twitter

So you created a Twitter profile, you’ve gotten a clever username and you’ve even figured out the special Twitter lingo and you’ve started to tweet.  Now what?

Now it’s time to build your following.  The best way to gain followers is a pursuit that’s been analyzed, studied and blogged about ad infinitum.  Many a social media expert has eschewed the best time of day to tweet, the most efficient use of hashtags, the perfect number of characters in a tweet, or the best social media apps to use to increase your Twitter following.

But let’s step away from the ever changing and sometimes conflicting stats and recognize that there is no one size fits all strategy.  There is however, a tried-and-true, slow-and steady-win- the-race approach that can be achieved if you follow these three basic principles:

1)   Your tweets are informative, entertaining and/or engaging. – By posting tweets that cause people to take action – be it think, smile, click, favorite, reply or retweet – you will establish yourself as a “source” that people will want to see in their newsfeed on a regular basis.

2)   You are consistent. – Assuming you’ve captured someone’s attention on Twitter and they have come to check out your profile, they will want to find that your Twitter timeline is regularly updated.  That doesn’t mean you have to post 20 times a day, but don’t expect someone to follow you if you haven’t posted a tweet since January.

3)   You follow them. – Twitter is a bit of “quid pro quo” network and you will gain more traction more quickly if you actively pursue and follow people who you would like to see in your newsfeed.  Equally important is to follow people back who have chosen to follow you if you think they are a good fit for the information that you seek to find on Twitter.

Gaining Twitter followers doesn’t happen instantly, but adhering to this authentic and organic method should help you increase your list faster than you thought possible.  Here are few more articles about best practices and gaining followers on Twitter.

I would love to hear from you in the comments as to what you have found is your most successful Twitter style?  Or if you are seeking followers, add your Twitter username below for more people to follow you.   Thanks.

Photo credit: John H. Buck (@wordupbuck)  a leader in leadership and an awesome brother-in-law.

Making Time For Social Media

Last week, I was excited to speak at 341 Studios Roundtable Series about “Making Time For Social Media.”  January is the perfect month for entrepreneurs and small business marketing managers to gear up for growth with their social media and online marketing efforts.

After a brief discussion of the top six social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+, we launched right into the two most important tools for social media management: 1) a third party social media application (like Hootsuite or Buffer) and 2) an editorial calendar/checklist.

Are you using both of these tools in your social media management? Which ones?  Let me know in the comments. 

Content creation and Twitter tips from WEN Meet-up

One of the best parts about speaking to groups about social media and online marketing is that I always learn as much as I teach.  Not only do I get the opportunity to hear about the current challenges entrepreneurs and business professionals face but everyone shares best practices for solutions.

This past Friday was no exception when I spoke with the Westchester Women Entrpreneurs’ Network (WEN) on “Best Tips for Getting Connected Online.”    This dynamic, super-smart, well-connected group of small business owners, wellness practitioners and marketing professionals taught me a few things that are well worth passing along:

1)   Creating content with ease – If you are in need of some writing help with your business blog, WEN organizer Kathy Perkal recommended using Zerys, a content marketplace for writers and marketers.

2)   Twitter tracking – To more easily track your Twitter reach, Suzanna Keith of TechandTravelMom, suggested trying either TweetReach or HashTracking for insight, analysis and reports of Twitter campaigns and activity.

3)   LinkedIn resumes – Liz Dowling of Sweet Marketing Associates shared the advice that profiles on LinkedIn shouldn’t show time gaps.  It is better, she advised, to note a career gap with details of volunteer and unpaid work than to show nothing at all.

If you are in the Westchester area, I highly recommend you check out this network of movers and shakers.   Next month, they will be hosting Emily McKhann, co-founder of The Motherhood, a digital PR and marketing agency with a network of thousands of highly influential online moms.  To make it even sweeter (pun coming), monthly meetings are held at Chocolations in Mamaroneck.  Yum!

Curious – What networking groups do you belong to?  Do they meet in real life or virtually?  What do you find most useful?  Please share with a comment – thanks.

Planning for a productive year

Hopefully, by now, you’ve given some thought to several things that you would like to achieve this year.  Are you planning to roll out a newsletter, become a regular blogger, learn about social media (– or maybe you just want to simply commit to exercising more).  If you haven’t given it any thought, then take a few minutes to look at your (probably pretty blank calendar) for 2014 and think about what you would like to be doing and achieve this year?

Got your goal(s) in mind?  Great!  Write it down where you will review regularly so that you can remind yourself on a consistent basis what you are working toward.  You don’t want to get distracted by the everday-ness of life and loose focus on the big picture.

Now it’s time for the “secret sauce second step” as the big disconnect for many is getting from goal setting to actually making it happen.

Break down your goal into manageable steps – Many times we don’t reach our goal or even get started on the goal because it seems too lofty, unattainable or overwhelming or we don’t know where to start.  Breaking your goal down into manageable bite-size steps will help you get started quicker and more than likely will help you create productive habits that support your goals.

For many, Step #1 is simply doing the research.  As you are figuring out your steps also think about what other resources might be involved in reaching your goal.  Can you do this by yourself?  Will you need the help of others?  Are there costs involved or set-up work that needs to happen?

Here’s an example:  Let’s say you want to get 200 followers on your social media sites or your email list, your basic steps might look like this:

  • Step #1 – Research using the Internet, attend social media class or webinar
  • Step #2 – Set-up social media account or email service
  • Step #3 – Create profile or templates
  • Step #4 – Follow or subscribe to others in your space, to figure out best practices
  • Step #5 – Introduce promotion/announcement to encourage followers
  • Step #6 – Figure out how and where you are going to source and save content and content ideas for posting and sharing
  • Step #7 – Create a regular schedule* for sourcing, posts and responding.
  • Step #8 – Review what is working best for you and adjust accordingly.

As you can see, breaking down what might seem to be an overwhelming prospect now becomes an actionable attainable process.  The key is to ensure you make time for the process.

Put it on the calendar – Now you have laid out the steps required to achieve your goal, it is very important to make the time for each of these steps.   Get that 2014 calendar back out and start scheduling realistic time for each of these steps.  Don’t just write it down on your calendar as a “to-do”.  You should literally create an actual time slot or appointment for each and every step.

For some, planning forward scheduling time for each step in a manageable sequential time frame is the best approach.  For others, it works better to set a deadline date by which you would like to have the goal achieved and work backwards to the present day building in each step.  Either way you should ensure that you have a clear picture of the time frame you are committing to achieving this goal.

Think of it this way, it is not just a calendar, but it’s your life.  “Fill it with the things that deserve to be there,” advises time management guru (and a client) Laura Vanderkam.  Having a plan will not only make you more productive, it will lead to more fulfilling life.  You will be amazed what you can achieve in a year!

Here are some resourceful articles and downloads about planning, scheduling and executing particularly for small businesses focused on their online marketing and social media.

* Want to Be More Productive? Build Your Editorial Calendar – Dorie Clark
* Don’t Let The Small Business Time Vampire Drain The Life From Your Social Media Presence – Social Collectives
* Your Daily Blogging Checklist – The SITS Girls
*Online Marketing Calendar & Checklist (Click to download) – NancySheed.com

Please leave a comment below sharing your big plans for this year.  Thanks!