Author Ed Bejarana
Twitter can be a social communication system OR a marketing tool; knowing which you want will dictate how you build your following. You can read more information about using Twitter as communication tool on the right side.
Target ProfilingTo build a following, first you need to develop a target customer profile. Who do you want to do business with. While the normal tendency is to answer EVERYONE, when finding followers, using the concept of “success by association” can produce more efficient result. Meaning you spend less time per lead qualifying business prospects.
Using the Twitter Yellow Pages (www.Twellow.com) you can find Twitter users in specific categories to follow. The idea behind building a following is first you need to follow other people.
Possibly the MOST influential way to build a good Twitter following is to publish valuable, keyword centered, information. That means, when publishing your twitter posts, make sure to provide “value” to your reads AND a link to information that “rewards” your read for their time.
The idea behind using Twitter as a marketing tool centered on the valued of the publication. If you are publishing “billboard” type messages that don’t help the reader, then people are less likely to reward you with a follow.
Following Followers of those I FollowAnother approach to building a large Twitter following to to follow to followers of people you look to for information or entertainment.
For example, if you love reading Stephen King novels, then finding a fan club or the author’s twitter account can lead you to a source of “other” like-minded people. Associating with other people with whom you have a common association or affinity is a quick way to build a strong following. Visit the target association followers and follow a hundred or so.
Limits and SPAM
One quick way to blow all your Twitter effort is to follow too many people at once. Tens of millions of people are flocking to Twitter, many are doing so in nefarious ways. They follow thousands of people with the only goal of building a big following so they can land blast them with a sales pitch. Our recommendation is don’t!
Twitter is fight SPAM with silver bullets that instant kill the wolf like accounts permanently. So long as you keep your following number with in a hundred so so people as are following you back, then you’ll fine.
Unfollow those who don’t Follow You BackTwitter has limits on the number of people you can follow over the number that follow you in return. Because of this limit, you will need to clean out your Twitter account on a regular basis. Visit you Following screen and unfollow those you can not “Direct Message”. If you can not DM then, then they are NOT following you.
Return the FollowJust as you need to clean out your following list, you need to follow those who are following you with whom you have not returned the follow. Visit your followers list and follow those you are not following.
Moral of the StoryTwitter will give you back the effort you put in. If you manage your lists, send valuable information that link people to your blog or website, then you will build a large following.
Twitter allows you to see micro-blog messages from all those your follow, and, thus, all your followers to see your micro-blogs. In addition to your followers, the public timeline also receives your posts, which is crawled by the major search engines (save this tid bit in the memory banks for a moment.)
As a community tool, Twitter allows you to send responses (@messages) directly to any Twitter user. @messages are also posted in the public timeline, but because they go to the recipients @reply box, these messages can be considered SPAM. You should only use @messages when replying to a question, adding to a public discussion, recognizing the individual for an idea, or engaging the individual in conversation. Avoid sales pitches via @messages–doing so can get your Twitter account flagged as a SPAMMER, resulting in permanent termination.
DM’s (Direct Messages) are private messages that only your recipient sees. Sending sales presentations via DM’s is also considered SPAM. We strongly suggest you avoid sending sales messages via DM to any user.
If you are asking yourself how Twitter can be a good communication tool, then you have caught my subtle hint–don’t! Twitter is a HORRIBLE communication tool. Tryign to hold a conversation via Twitter is about as effective as using tin cans and string to pass messages around in your office.
With thousands of messages flying by your screen in real time, it is impossible to hold a meaning full conversation. You are better off give the recipient your phone number or eMail address. Thus, the best social communication system use for Twitter is asking someone online in real time to contact you off line. This leads us to what I believe is the preferred use for Twitter–as a marketing tool.
Follow MeBuilding a follow via eMail and other website publications is a viable way to build a good size following. Be sure to add a Follow Me On twitter link.
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Author Ed Bejarana
Author Ed Bejarana
Author Ed Bejarana
Author Ed Bejarana
Twitter can be an excellent web traffic tool to help you improve your:
- Customer Conversion Optimization
- Number of Inbound Links
- Search Engine Optimization
The first step is to visit Twitter.com and click on “Get Started – Join”
Enter your real name (unless anonymity is required). We feel personal branding has a huge internet marketing benefit.
Create a Twitter User Account
Enter your eMail address. We suggest you create a special eMail account for Twitter messages so you can isolate the increased eMail traffic.
Complete the rest of the form and click “Create My Account”.
Your first option will be to invite your friends to follow you on Twitter. We suggest you skip this step.
The next option is to following some people. We suggest you skip this step too. We will use The Twitter Yellow Pages to follow a select group of people based on the industry they self-identify with.
This is a good time to mention the goal for your Twitter account. Build more web traffic AND more links on Google. While you could use Twitter as a communication tool, we feel the time commitment for this strategy out weights the ROI.
Once your account is created, the first step is to update your profile. This is the information screen people see when they visit your Twitter account. It includes your account name, real name, web address, location, and 160 character description.
Your profile description will be the content evaluated for most Twitter searches. While your tweets are also index by the search engines, your profile is an important information section for starting to identify you with your business industry.
The picture tab is where you upload your avatar. We suggest you use a photo of yourself. A head shot helps build a personal connection with people.
The Design tab is where you can manage your Twitter background. You can use one of the default patterns or create your own picture. We suggest you create a pic that measure 1400 pixels by 1200 pixels so that you background completly fills most all computer monitors.
The two most important Twitter tasks is managing your following/followers and broadcasting messages.
Twitter does not like SPAM anymore than you. To try and control SPAMMERS, Twitter puts limits on the number of people you can follow.
The main idea behind building a large following is first following people who in-turn follow you back. Over time you will find in your “Followers” screen that people are following you and you are not yet following them in return. You can tell that you are NOT following a follower because the option to follow is shown under the Twitter account name. See image below. To follow the person back, click on follow.
The question of limiting who you follow to protect your reputation is a personal decision you will need to make. While we suggest you follow anyone who follows you, your personal or business needs may dictate otherwise. As you will alter see, Twitter is a numbers game and your account will receive preferential treatment as your follower count increases.
Since you will, more often than not, first follow someone, you will need to (eventually) unfollow those who don’t follow you in return.
Why? Because Twitter limits the number of people you can follow until you have enough followers. For example, you can not follow more than 2,000 people until at least 2,000 people follow you back. After 2,000 followers, you are only allow to follow a few hundred people more than are following you. The message is your will need to spend time daily managing your followings.
When you click on the following tab, you will see the people you are following. To make room for more people to follow, you need to unfollow those who don’t follow you back. How often you do this clean-up is up to you, but we reccomend you do this task daily. If you have the ability to “Direct message” a follwoer, then that follower has opted to follow you back.
Author Ed Bejarana
Protective- Supportive; encouraging
- May be provocative
- Skilled interpersonally; more concerned with people than with ideas
- Seeks situations with other people
- Altruistic; attends to others
- Intelligent; shies away from physical skills
- Generally outgoing
- Satisfied with career; likes work; likes to exert influence
- Practical
- Slightly inhibited
- Slightly compulsive
Discussion
When trying to gain government contracts you’ll more than likely start with someone who can be classified as a Social Worker. When communicating with Social Workers your safe zone topics are those which help other people. They generally prefer to work with extroverted people and appreciate politically savvy people who don’t appear to be playing politics.
Author Ed Bejarana
Self-Controlled, practical- Introverted, introspective, and serious
- Judgmental, demanded, and reserved
- Responsible; makes a good impression
- Wary of impulse; plans ahead; organized
- Willing to give advice
- Conservative; conventional; a conformist
Career Discussion
Generally busy people, especially around tax season. Generally people who cut to the chase. They like the facts, but prefer them to be concise. When writing for accountants keep your style focuses on the facts without adding too many flowery prose. While they appreciate good literature, they expect business blog content to be business focused.
Author Ed Bejarana
Work is an important element in people’s lives and, when things are going well, generally enhances their self-esteem. For many individuals, the choice of a career represents an extension of personality. Career also represents a preferred lifestyle.
In developing our business blogging strategy, we must first identify with the individuals we intend to be our audience. While the traits listed in the associated pages do not represent every person with-in the particular career field, using these traits and personality discussions as a starting point can help you start to build your own target customer profiles.
Source: Writer’s Guide to Character Traits – second Edition by Linda N. Edelstein, PH.D.