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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.

Understanding Twitter Lingo

Are you part of the 40% of Twitter users who is rarely engaged and never tweets?

Do not fear, you are not alone.   Many people get intimidated by the not-so-intuitive Twitter language.  Confused by hashtags, usernames and re-tweets, many avoid tweeting for fear of doing it wrong.  They often end up abandoning their Twitter feed as too confusing to be worth their time.

But as Facebook becomes evermore complicated and populated with ads, you might find it’s worth re-visiting your Twitter account as a more resourceful and rich social media platform.

Here’s a quick look at a tweet and a Twitter glossary to get you up to speed on the basic elements of a tweet.

SheedTwitterLingo

Username/Twitter handle – Your ID on Twitter must be unique and contain fewer than 15 characters, no spaces. Is used to identify you on Twitter for replies and mentions.
Hashtag (#)  –  The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a post.  It is created organically (anyone can create a hashtag) as a way to categorize messages or posts of similar natures.  Examples:  #DarienCT #KYDerby #selfie

Retweet (RT) – The act of sharing another user’s Tweet to all of your followers.

Note: When you “tag” other Twitter users, include “hashtags” or links in your Tweet, all of these elements (highlighted in blue) will be actionable links once posted.  Including these elements also makes your Tweet more engaging and findable.

Here are a few other articles to help bring you up to speed on the basics of Twitter:

Now you’ve got the lingo, I challenge you to give Twitter another try.  I’ll make it easy – tag me (@sheesalt) in a Tweet and I will reply or Retweet!

Let me know how it goes in the comments or ask about any other challenges you face on Twitter.  Also, please consider sharing this article if you found it useful.  Thanks.