Getting Started With Twitter
23 Jul
I have to admit that I have been very slow on the uptake with all forms of social networking, and particularly with Twitter, I’ve really been at a loss as to the point of it and how it can benefit me.
However, since giving Twitter an initial try out, the penny is now starting to drop and I can see its potential for at least some of my online projects.
So in keeping with my main purpose for this blog, I want to do a series of posts to outline my goals and progress with Twitter right from day one.
Initial Goals for Twitter
Initially I have set up two Twitter profiles but for the present I will only be actively using @AffProgress. The second account I think will be very useful for one of my other sites that I’m currently building up the content on.
I set myself a Q3 2010 goal to get up to 300 followers on my @AffProgress profile but at present I don’t really have any specific marketing objectives. I just want to test the water and learn how to build up followers. In addition, I will be watching how others that I’m following are using Twitter, and taking note of both the good and the bad.
Already I’m seeing people using tactics that are a complete turn off to me. I suppose it’s just an unfortunate fact of life that spamming appears to be as rife on Twitter as it is elsewhere on the net, but I for one will not be adopting those sort of methods.
Twitter Tools I am Using
Whilst the standard Twitter web interface is fine for managing a single account (and at the moment it is what I’m using on a day to day basis), I have also installed Tweet Deck which will make it much easire to manage tweets to multiple accounts as I expand my usage.
The other main tool I’m using is Tweepi, and this is going to be my main tool in helping to grow my number of followers. I will be doing a follow up post on how I’m using Tweepi.
Progress to Date
I started with my Twitter goal about a week before I went on holiday recently, and in that week using Tweepi I managed to build up to 56 followers. I am currently following 103 people. So it looks like my target for this quarter is easily achievable with a bit of work.
My Tweeting has been limited to promoting some my posts here on Affiliate Progress, and Re-Tweeting good content that I have found elsewhere. I think providing useful Tweets should be the cornerstone of anyone’s Twitter usage. Prove that you are a human being and not a machine, and you have much more chance of people taking a better look. You also have a better chance that they won’t un-follow you for spamming!
I’d love to hear about your own Twitter usage and any tips you have for successfully marketing via Twitter. Please feel free to leave a comment below!
Nice Post.
I used some twitter sites to increase my twitter followers in past. But now i’m not doing all that.
If you really want to increase twitter followers & want to build awesome profile, then be active and spend your time.
I’m also using hootsuite to manage my twitter account – easily.
Thanks for sharing this great Post.
~Dev
Dev – Technshare.com´s last blog ..Are You Selling Yourself Short And Eventually Your Blog Too
Hi Dev,
“be active and spend your time” – I think that is great advice, there are too many obviously automated accounts on Twitter spamming out endless rubbish.
I will take a look at Hoot Suite to see how it compares to Tweet Deck. Thanks for the info.
yes i agree with the active in Twitter, same as on FaceBook or on our own blog
Julian´s last blog ..PageRank Prediction
Hi Julian,
thanks for commenting. I’m slowly learning the ropes on Twitter now, but in some ways I’m still playing a watching game at the moment.
I ran a very successful test, and didn’t even realize I was doing it.
I recently re-joined twitter as well. I’ve done very little so far.
At the time of this writing I have made 804 tweets. Other then a handful of “personal tweets” they are ALL retweets.
Retweeting others is a really good thing, but even too much of that without other things is not a good thing; I need to get shaking.
My oblivious test: I am not actively promoting my twitter account at all, yet.
The ONLY time anyone currently sees my twitter name (other then via retweets) is when I leave it behind in the Twitter name fill-in-the-blank plugin in comment sections.
I currently have around 100 followers.
Not many for sure, but considering how they all found me, I’d say it’s a big thumbs up for a very passive promotional tactic doing something I do anyway…commenting.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Last Post and Current To-Do List
Hi Dennis,
I’ve seen your RT activity and read some great content through it. So it is definitely what I would consider a “good” way of participating on Twitter so long as it’s done right.
I must admit, it would be great to build up a good band of Twitter followers organically, but I want to explore all the options so I can quickly build up other accounts for some of my other projects.
Unless I’m misunderstanding your intemt, we’ll have to agree to disagree.
Anything other then organic is really not using twitter in the manner it was intended.
Extreme amounts of followers using tools and unnatural means is basically good for one thing; promotional suicide by tweet. lol
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..2 Immediate Feedbacks Needed PLEASE!
I think you are misunderstanding my intent Dennis.
But I don’t see how using a tool to find interesting people to follow is misusing Twitter. Nobody can force them to follow me back, but if they choose to do so that’s great.
Also, we aren’t talking about huge numbers here as that is clearly something that will get your account blocked.
It depends on the tool. I’m speaking primarily generally as I haven’t seen Tweepi.
The initial focus of Twitter was chatter albeit quick/concise chatter, lol.
Getting to know and chat with each and every follower…not an easy thing to do with all these silly tools floating around to gather 10,000 followers in 30 seconds, and what not.
I’m not saying you’re doing that, but you can see why I am all about the organic.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..2 Immediate Feedbacks Needed PLEASE!
Well I suppose you could use Tweepi like that, but it would be a good way of getting your account shut down.
Use it intelligently though, and continue to carefully vet everyone you follow and it is a great way to get follow backs from like minded people in your niche or who have an interest in your niche.
Whether or not you want to use a tool that can help is not really the issue. If you went to a party where you didn’t know many people, would you stand in a corner and wait for people to say hello, or would you try to mingle, say hello and introduce yourself to a few people?
Excellent analogy! Yes, “I” would mingle of course; me myself and I , no wingman (tool) to help me do it faster.
Dennis Edell | Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..2 Immediate Feedbacks Needed PLEASE!
I still think the best way to mingle on Twitter is to follow people. You can only really get to say hello if they decide to follow you back.
Anyway, looks like we will have to agree to disagree on this one. Thanks for an interesting discussion Dennis!
All the best,
Des.
Hi Affiliateprogress,
I’m a Twitter addict and I’ve seen it all in terms of how people grow their following. When I saw that you followed me on Twitter I went to your profile and your twitter stream. It wasn’t at all spammy and more importantly I saw my logo at the top of your “following”. That says a lot to me and that you aren’t mass following people. So that gives you “two thumbs up” in my book.
I’m using Hootsuite to manage multiple Twitter accounts and it works fine for me. Here’s a nice comparison of Tweetdeck and HootSuite from my friend DragonBlogger http://www.dragonblogger.com/comparing-hootsuite-to-tweetdeck/
Best wishes to you and your online success!
Ileane @ Basic Blog Tips´s last blog ..Blogging Extension ScribeFire Comes to Chrome
Hi Ileane,
yes I think whichever way you do it, it’s important to follow people you want to connect with. I can’t see the point in getting spammy.
Tools such as Tweepi (even though it’s a bit buggy!) do help you find interesting people, and keep track of who has bothered to follow back.
I will check out the TweetDeck/HootSuite comparison. TweetDeck is working fine for me so far but always open to new ideas.
Thanks for your comment!
I know now a days Twitter is the best means to divert traffic .Sorry but I want to to remark one point that the conversion rate is too low , because many times its happen that on the other side we had meet the person on twitter who make their account only for promotion likes me . So its just useless Traffic while you spend a dedicated resources for twitter
Tej Kohli´s last blog ..History of Animation by Tej Kohli
Hi Tej Kohli,
I think you raise a couple of good points there. I think you do need to carefully filter who you actually follow, and as you say it can be quite time consuming.
Thanks for commenting.
This came back through the feed again, did you republish on purpose?
Dennis Edell@ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..How DEDC Contest Sponsors Will be Linked
Hi Dennis, how’s things? No, not re-published, so I guess it may be some kind of feed glitch.
I personally used Twitter and Facebook as my social media tool and the new Google+1. They really help bloggers get much traffic.
Marivic´s last blog ..How to win the lottery guaranteed
I think providing useful Tweets should be the cornerstone of anyone’s Twitter usage. Prove that you are a human being and not a machine, and you have much more chance of people taking a better look. You also have a better chance that they won’t UN-follow you for spamming!
Catalina´s last blog ..angry birds download
I think you raise a couple of good points there. I think you do need to carefully filter who you actually follow. |
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