Maybe it’s because I put down in writing last week the things I’d learned about Twitter, but this week I began to feel less like a newbie, and more like a… well, not a pro, certainly, but more competent, more knowledgable.  I reached 500 followers last weekend, and that seemed like a tipping point.  So I changed my description on my Twitter profile from newbie to dilettante (because that sounds so much better than amateur, even though they mean the same thing). 

I also realised that I had begun to use Twitter differently.  As a newbie, most of my posts were one-way; statements answering the “what are you doing” question.  Sometimes that would spark an exchange, but often not.  But more recently, many of my tweets were responses to others, including both people I know, and those I don’t.  It had begun to feel like the conversation that all the social media gurus talk about.  It was another ah-hah moment for me — I “get” Twitter on a new level, and it’s even better.  And that made me hungry to take it up another notch.  I’ve been in a learning and growth mode all week, listening, reading, connecting like crazy.  So I thought I’d share what I’ve learned, in case there are other newbies who feel ready for the next stage:

  • First, a caveat: Don’t try this too soon.  There’s nothing wrong with being a newbie, it’s a necessary stage, and if you try to make the leap too early, you’ll either be overwhelmed or turn people off.  But if you’ve been actively twittering for a few months and have a couple hundred followers or more, you might be ready.

Gradually Expand Your View

  • As a Newbie, you follow people you know or have something in common with (like IABC Members on Twitter), social media gurus, etc.  Gradually that list expands, but Newbies need to keep the list somewhat limited in order to be able to keep up and be able to learn from those they’re following.  At the next stage, you’re more able to scan and zoom in on things, so you’re ready to expand your view.  You need to find interesting people to follow.  Here are a few ways that have worked for me:
    • I started with what I call tweet-surfing, clicking through on names of people mentioned in @replies from people I follow, especially those I admire (like @shel and @jangles). Reading their profiles and recent tweets, if they looked good I clicked follow.
    • Next I began to pick up the pace, actually going to the Following lists of some of my most-admired Twitterers, and following some of the people they follow. 
    • Then I saw a tweet about a new tool called Mr. Tweet, and followed the link.  When you follow Mr. Tweet, it provides a customized list of people you might be interested in following, and it makes it easy. [Note: I don’t recommend clicking on their Follow buttons, which then requires you to provide your Twitter password. Instead, click on the person’s Twitter ID, which will open their Twitter page, and you can follow as usual.]
    • At this point, I had added almost 500 people to my Following list, which I would have thought would be overwhelming, but instead, it was leading to some great conversations.  So when I came across an article called “How to Become a Twitter Rock Star, Sort of” which mentioned a way to automate the process, I tried it.  Here’s a YouTube video that explains it better than I can.
    • The result of all this is that I’m now following more than 1600 people, and many of them are now following me back, which brings me to my next topic…

Build Your Following

  • Lots of articles I’ve read, mostly by social media marketing types, focus on this first, as if the whole point of social networking is to have large numbers of people following you.  I’ve found that these are the kind of people I avoid on Twitter.  Once they have you as a follower, all you see is tweets marketing their latest e-book.  Don’t be like them.
  • The easiest way to increase the number of people following you is to follow others.  Most people will follow you back, either because they use an auto-follow tool (which I don’t recommend), or because when they click on your profile, they think you might be interesting.  That’s why it’s so important to have real info in your profile, and your photo.  My new rule is I don’t follow-back anyone who is anonymous, or with whom I can’t see any commonalities.
  • The other reason people will follow you is if you’re providing value.  While tweets that answer the “what are you doing” question are fine –and help people get to know you as a person — if that’s all you’re doing, it’s probably not going to get you a huge following.  But if you’re connecting people, sharing information, answering questions, re-tweeting messages and participating in conversations, then you’re creating value.  That is like a magnet.  That is why people like Shel Holtz, ABC, and Neville Hobson, ABC, have more than 2000 followers.  I wanna be like them when I grow up.

The Right Tools Make it Easier

  • I really don’t think I’d be able to manage all this if I were accessing Twitter via the Twitter.com website.  It’s just too clunky.  I highly recommend Tweetdeck. Set it up in a 4-column format, with all tweets in the first column, DMs (private messages to you) in the second, replies in the third, and you can use the 4th column as a keyword search. I set mine so that I see all tweets (by anyone, not just those I follow) that mention IABC. I’ve found great people that way, and also get to see what’s going on with IABC chapters around the world.  You could also use that column to monitor mentions of your company.  The other thing I really like about Tweetdeck is that you can click on any @ID within any tweet, and it opens up a new column with that person’s profile, recent tweets, and a box to click follow. 

So that’s what I’ve learned this week.  I’m up to more than 800 followers, and I hope I’m providing value to them.  I know the people I’m following are providing value to me.