The Best Formula for Getting Followers (and Getting Noticed) on Twitter:
1. Customize your Twitter feed. That means do a search on keywords here: (search.twitter.com) and find people who are similar.
For example, let’s say you are plugging a self-published e-book. Keywords to start off: writers, publishing, e-books, self-publishing, etc.
2. If you have a blog (and you should definitely have a blog), find an app that will auto-publish your blog’s new posts (I use NetworkedBlogs), or just remember to post every new blog post to your feed.
3. RETWEET stuff that you like. RT, RT, RT!
Let’s go back to our hypothetical new tweeter who has self-published an e-book. Let’s say you see something that directly correlates to your e-book. Perhaps you see a tweet that says, “E-books have revolutionized publishing, and every e-book publisher will soon become a millionaire, fat with cash.”
You gotta retweet that shit! Re-tweet anything that comes up on your feed that sounds even remotely interesting.
People won’t follow you unless you RT something.
4. Whatever you do, do NOT install an app that sends an auto DM to people. People HATE that on Twitter.
5. Your Twitter feed CANNOT be purely self-promotional. That’s called “spam” and Twitter will punish you by giving you no love.
Think: short, pithy tweets. Occasional links to your product or blog, with just-the-right-amount of self-deprecating wit. Just re-tweet.
6. After you’ve built up a list and have properly re-tweeted, and have a following, comb through and remove/block the losers. Spammy fuckers will start following you; don’t follow back. A sort of unwritten rule is that you should have more followers than people you are following. High school clique-y stuff, I know. Twitter is, in many ways, just a big fucking clique.
7. ALWAYS REPLY when anyone”@’s” you (“mentions” you).
8. You should also follow the regular assortment of entertainers you like, publishers, famous writers, news organizations (CNN breaking @cnnbrk) and so forth.
9. Read this article by @sharakarasic, who’s a social media guru type. It’s written for business, so just tailor it to your needs (books, e-books, publishing, writers, whatever else you’re interested in or think your audience will be interested in).
Twitter for Business
If you have something to sell, you can start thinking of yourself as a business.
For reference, look at what some of the most popular “regular folk” Twitter people do:
Chris Brogan
Guy Kawasaki (dude hires people out to work his feed): Notice their followers and their retweets and stuff.
And then, though, take a look at this chick, who defies every law of Twitter and blogging, and still has a huge following.
Good luck in your Twitter endeavors.
Follow me @eveoverseas