Dec 9, 2012 Posted in Articles: Business, Recent posts, Tips & Insights

Advanced Twitter Tips

A few days ago, I was encouraged to write a post highlighting Advanced Twitter Tips. There are plenty of posts online about Twitter Tips for Newbies but according to Christy of TeachMy, very few articles exist that delve into the deeper waters of Twitter – for those who wish to successfully use the social media platform for the sake of business.

Here is what Christy asked me:

A lot has been done on etiquette and basic twitter tips. I don’t see many posts that delve into the nitty gritty of what really gets people ahead of the game for more followers…like how did you get so many followers?

While I cannot speak for everyone who uses Twitter effectively, I can certainly share my own thoughts and experiences based on my Mommy Perks Twitter account.

Here are a few of the ways in which I use Twitter. These philosophies have served my business well.

Content

When I first began tweeting back in 2009 I thought to myself, “People seem to want articles that help them in some way: business tips, marketing ideas, money saving tips, crafts and more. I need to write articles and send those out through my stream. Soon enough, I’ll establish myself and those who enjoy my writing will follow.” I made a decision to be patient and to plug along, one day at a time. I continued to pump out article after article, in an attempt to gain a readership base. After a few months, my following began to increase. After two years, I was on a roll.

One of the wisest things I did was to create this Mommy Perks blog for my business articles and an early childhood site for my early childhood postings. By separating the two, I’ve managed to maintain a unique set of readers for both of my topics of interest (business and early childhood). I don’t cram all of my interests into the same blog.

I do not follow first

This seems strange to many people but another choice I made, from the get-go, was to allow others to follow me first. I simply follow back (if wanted). I’ve followed only a handful of people first. Everyone else has followed me first, and I generally follow back if they are family friendly. I never follow anyone porny (I block them, in fact) and I don’t follow back people who clearly self promote all day long. I typically follow everyone else. I want my Twitter base to be professional and free from junk. I don’t mind following people who are different from me but I draw the line with “ick.”

I feel that I’ve built up a powerfully loyal following at this point because those who follow me CHOSE to do so. They didn’t follow me back because they felt obligated to. This is not the way most people run their Twitter accounts, I know. Most folks seek out people to follow and hope they get followed back. I have no issue with doing things that way; it’s simply a personal choice.

{Also note: I have never purchased Twitter followers}

Those who tweet more get more followers?

I recently read a post that said the author had narrowed down the algorithm for getting more followers. He pointed out that those who tweet more get more followers. The more they tweet, the more they get followed. I decided to test that out a few weeks ago. I stopped tweeting for an entire day. I ended up getting about 3 new followers within the 24 hour period. The next day I tweeted article after article (about business and early childhood – my two primary genres). I gained about 50 followers within that 24 hour period. I will also note that I used hashtags like #parents, #parenting, #business, #smallbusiness, #ece, #crafts, #tips and so on.

Also good to mention: I lost followers as well, who were annoyed by the number of tweets I sent out. I probably lost about 3 followers but again – I gained around 50.

Limit the giveaways

I can’t stress this one enough. I am very selective about the giveaways I run or tweet about. A recent article on a business site made mention of the fact that if we gain a large percentage of our followers based on giveaways, the loyalty factor is low. I’ve been writing about that for years now, also. I have always attempted to limit the number of giveaways because I have found that when people only follow you because they want something for free, they are rarely likely to turn around and support your business later on (or the business of your client). If their goal is “cheap” or “free” that almost never = sales for the business owner. If you want a higher level of loyalty from people who value your content, background and insights, limit your giveaways.

Limit your own self promotions

You will rarely find me promoting my own business offerings. I typically promote educational articles of some type, humor pieces, personal stories, etc. I interact with people, ask questions, answer questions, chat, share thoughts and so on. I get to know people and I figure… if they wish to learn more about me, they will visit my ABOUT page and read it. Many of them do and in turn, I gain new customers and clients on a pretty regular basis (through Twitter and other avenues).

Multiple streams of income

One of the biggest issues people seem to have is that their income eggs are all in one basket. We simply can’t do that any longer. The economy won’t allow for it. I interviewed entrepreneur Rudy DeFelice last week, about this very topic. We both agree that people are now going to need more than one job, in order to get by. If you are tweeting all day long about one product, one book or one service, you’ll find yourself in a world of hurt very quickly.

Do you stink of desperation?

When I see people tweeting, non stop, about how awesome their own product is, it tells me, “They are not selling enough. They are desperate to get sales.” This is a huge turn-off for most readers so stay away from this tactic if possible.

Be a giver

I willingly agree to guest write for other blogs, re-tweets others and answer questions when people ask for twitter tips through my stream. I have found that when I talk to people, they appreciate being acknowledged. In turn, they often promote me or tweet my site link, etc. Twitter is wonderful when used for give-and-take.

The hashtag over-kill

It’s really annoying to readers when they see a tweet like this: “Great article! #parents #parenting #ece #children #kids #family #holidays #giving #charity.” Ummm. Stop it. One-three hashtags will be sufficient.

Mix up your blog post titles

I’ve noticed over the last few months that my articles get more reads if I mix up the titles a bit, when tweeting. Like this:

1. New post: 10 books kids love to read _____ (link here) #read
2. Kids and reading – what books do kids enjoy? ______ (link here) #reading
3. Do your kids love these books, too? _______ (link here) #parents #kids

I mix and match the titles, to draw different readers. I also mix up the hashtags and the time of day that I tweet the link.

Charity

If you support a charity, be sure to blog about it and share stories with your readers (and twitter followers). A lot of people on Twitter enjoy charitable stories, articles and posts. Especially those that help children.

Form a tweeting community

If you meet some friends on Twitter, or have fellow business owner pals, make a pact to tweet for each other. This is something I often push with my own Mommy Perks community members, advertisers and clients: help each other! For instance, we currently have our Gift Guide 2012 up. We are all tweeting about each other, sending traffic to the Guide and to each site, for each business owner. You need to form groups like this on Twitter. You can form your own organically, with people you know and trust, or you can use a site like Triberr.com to set up a group.

Let go of expectations

Something I learned early on was this: let go of expectations on Twitter. Don’t expect others to follow you, tweet your links, re-tweet you, read your articles, buy from you or give one hoot what you are doing. Make up your mind to be YOU. Be YOU and enjoy what you are doing because you’re good at it and because you love it. The rest will then follow as a natural progression. It did for me, anyway.

Re-tweet what others tweet about YOU (sometimes)

This is a little narcissistic, I know. I don’t always do this but I have found that there can be positive kickbacks if I re-tweet someone who re-tweeted me. I generally limit this to people I know. For instance, if I wrote a guest post for someone and they tweet the link out, I may re-tweet that. That sends traffic to THEIR site. It happens to have my @mommyperks name in there, too, which doesn’t seem to hurt my Twitter stats any (if anything, it appears to help the stats). Check TweetReach.com to view your own stats and to see who is mentioning you and how far their reach has gone, on your behalf.

Build your various social media communities

I’ve found it helpful to have accounts at Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest. Although I don’t use each of them to the same extent, I do tweet out my links now and again, inviting others to join me. For instance:

1. Find Mommy Perks on Pinterest and follow my boards. I’ll follow back!
2. Find Mommy Perks on LinkedIn: ____________
3. Join me on Facebook! ____________ I’m happy to LIKE your page, also.
4. Are you on Google+! Here is my link: ____________ Happy to follow your page, also.

Every time I post a new article I immediately send it out through Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. I also tweet it.

Tweet an array of articles

I attempt to mix it up when I tweet: some of my own posts, some of the posts that guest authors have written for me, blog posts from the archives that may still be relevant now, guest posts I’ve written for other blogs, articles that I find on random sites that I think would be helpful to my followers and more. Mix it up!

In closing…

People tend to like a little bit of transparency. Be open, be yourself, be friendly and be helpful. Refrain from self promoting all day long and put aside your expectations that Twitter will make you rich. Step back and ask yourself, “What am I bringing to the table to help others? How can I better the market with what I do or write about? How can I benefit the world around me?”

When you view things through that window, the bigger picture tends to become a little more clear.

More reading:

How to stink at Twitter

10 twitter etiquette tips

Is your Facebook wall successful?

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4 Responses to “Advanced Twitter Tips”

1. Brenda Nixon says:

   January 2, 2013 at 3:24 pm

   Sensible, practical, and easy-to-do tips. Thanks so much for sharing Shara. I’m pretty sure I do (or don’t do) the things you suggested. I made a mental checklist as I read your blog.
2. Shara says:

   January 17, 2013 at 3:32 pm

   Thanks for the comment, Brenda! Sorry for my late reply. Nice to see you here!
3. @PamelaMKramer - A Renaissance Woman says:

   January 23, 2013 at 12:37 pm

   Great tips! I have done everything on your list except change up the titles and post at different times. I guess I could try and manage that better! The one thing I would have added to your post would have been the creation and organization of lists.
4. Shara says:

   January 23, 2013 at 12:46 pm

   Ahh… I don’t have any lists! Maybe you’d like to write a post for me about that I can learn from you!