Here are my 5 rules that helped me attract over 15,000 followers on Twitter in less than 12 months. They are not hard rules to follow nor do they require you to spend $$ on a secret product I have. They are commonsense rules that you can use as well.
1. Choose a Great Profile Name
Having a name like Jenny3435 will doom you forever to obscurity just like a child film star. Plus you look like a spammer. Choose a name that reflects what people are interested in. I have “BusinessTalk” so its easy to find when people search for “business talk” or “business chat” or even just “business”.
2. Be Nice
Always try to respond to people who contact you and always thank people who re-tweet your messages. Some purists state that you should not pollute Twitter with “RTs” – they are the ones with hardly any followers. Everyone likes to be acknowledged for helping out.
3. Block the Trolls
I have encountered many Internet Trolls on Twitter. The ability to hide your true identity encourages the worst in some people. When someone is rude to you just block them. The worst thing you can do is respond to their insults – thats what they want because when you @reply their profile name gets broadcasted to your followers.
4. Automate Some Tweets
Shock horror!!! There is a stat somewhere that states in order to be successful on Twitter you need to post at least 20-30 times per day. If you can do this all by yourself then you don’t have a life. I have hooked up some really interesting RSS feeds to my profile from business sites. They are the most RT’d posts in my stream.
5. Don’t take this seriously
Twitter is fun and allows you to connect with some interesting people. I love Twitter but at the same time I don’t panic and cry when Twitter goes down. Forget the purist who tell you how you should behave on Twitter – just be YOU.
Connect with Me:
Twitter: BusinessTalk on Twitter
Facebook: BusinessTalk on Facebook
LinkedIn: BusinessTalk on LinkedIn
Posterous: BusinessTalk on Posterous
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Nice blog and good set of rules… so true about having fun with Twitter.
Thanks for this valuable Information. I trully think is very helpfu for every bussinesl. I personally will share with all my friends and partners.
Gongratulation for this Excelent Job!
God Bless You.
Your Friend,
Marvin Gandis
Nice but don't you think that content is dead? I hear that the next king is entertainment. If your tweets can entertain people, it will definitely be worth the re-tweet. And if you keep that up, you will get followers. Problem is not everyone is a comedian like George Bush.
Thanks for the comments. I think entertainment is content such as links to funny videos, the latest Lady Gaga whatever… There was a study done by some smart people that concluded that people mostly used (and found benefit) Twitter as an information source. You can read some interesting facts here: http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/08/twitter-10-psych…
I need to do more of #4; using time wisely should be a part of every entrepreneur's tool sack.
@Bruneian Dolalr: Great point, but I respectfully counter with entertainment is "content." Content takes many forms — videos, infographics, music, etc., but it is all content. Invest in informative, "relevent to your prospects' lives" content – and you'll definitely reap the rewards.
Again, excellent point though.
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Nice article. Tweet automation, yes now there's something I need to look into