2) When you like something you read enough to send a reply and say “that was great”—Retweet it. (Signified with a RT) When you RT someone, especially someone with a large following, it gets you noticed. It’s also a more profound way to thank them or tell them you liked it. You also become a hub of good info to your followers. Then when you are talking about something you produced they will be more likely to look at it. @PeterSantilli taught me this one with a quiet slap on the wrist. I stood corrected because he was right.
3) Grow your list of followers. Go into people’s list of followers that follow you and follow their interesting people (wow, that was a lot of “follow” in one sentence, where’s a thesaurus when you need one?). Many will follow back. The rules—Under 2,000 followers you can follow as many as you want (up to 2,000). Over 2,000 you can only follow 10% more than follow you. You need to decide how big you want to be. A large list can be very time consuming done correctly. @AlohaArleen has a giant following and she is very responisive to her peeps. That takes lots of time because she is doing it right.
4) Follow people back when they follow you. My rule of following back is I don’t follow anyone back who is amoral, or is just a business. Anyone else, they are in. I am using Twitter as a tool to promote barcagii.com and my blog and most people on twitter are likely customers, why wouldn’t I follow them? I want to know the person behind it. Also make sure to follow people back or often they will drop you.
5) Post a good twitter picture and Background. Make it intriguing or interesting. @barefoot_exec and @matalarry are some examples. Notice they are not goofy--just friendly and inviting. Don’t do logos. This is a mistake I have made from the beginning. People don’t follow logos as often. Also don’t change your twitter picture often. Many keep an eye on their favorites with a glance, keep them used to the same one.
6) Use DM for idle chit-chat. Many “Big Listers” will disagree here but use the DM (direct message) for idle chit-chat. If you @ things like “thanks a lot” or “you’re the man” then as you grow you will over tweet your followers with smaller lists and become white noise. Make sure if you are broadcasting something that it is something your followers want to hear. I see @juliebonnheath use this well in conversations. While you are on it, don’t over tweet in general. You become annoying and get read less. Pick your tweets wisely.
7) Use hootsuite.com or TweetDeck. I advise that small list folks use hootsuite.com . Once you grow over about 1,000 followers TweetDeck is the best, but can be clunky sometime.
8) Bring your expertise to the table as free info. You won’t give away all that you have to offer in 140 characters. Give it away, and they will come. @chrispirillo is a good example of this.
9) Get noticed by big list people. RT them. Post links to their blogs in an @ to them. Be genuine. There are plenty of big list folks you will like. The folks I motioned here would be a good place to start. A bigger following gets noticed by these folks. I call it Social Equity. Build yours, while you build these important relationships.
10) Be yourself, pick a side. If you like Obama--say it. If you don’t--say it. People want to know who you are. Don’t sit on the fence. (I don’t like Obama—he’s just another politician—guilty by association.) @Scobleizer pulls no punches.
Enjoy twitter, keep it fun and informational. Follow people you know in the beginning and they will help you find the way. If not, just ask. That’s the great thing about twitter, people are helpful. Good Luck.
By the way, you can follow me @matalarry
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