Article by Wendy McCance
Over the weekend I decided to clean up my Twitter account. I was following almost 1,000 people and I wanted to check in on each and every one of them and to see what they were tweeting these days.
So far I have spent about 16 hours going through my followers and see another 8 hours in my future until it is all cleaned up.
As I was going through each account, there were several followers I deleted because they had not posted in months, didn’t interact with others or there was just nothing in their tweets I would want to share. It might sound harsh, but I am looking to connect with people of similar interests who interact with others and have terrific tweets that I can’t resist but to share.
Each time I kept a follower, I would retweet something they shared or would comment on a tweet they posted. There were several followers who ended up getting their link shared on my Facebook page or on my Paper.li account as well. I love to support and share good articles and ideas.
All of this work had me thinking about the top Twitter tips that should be shared. I hope these tips help you in your pursuit to connect and maintain a positive Twitter account and experience.
- Show that you are present on Twitter. A long page of quotes or advertisement of your new book over and over is just a waste of time. You won’t get new followers and there won’t be any connections made. Interaction is key. Without interaction, there is really no reason to spend your time posting on Twitter. You are just posting to dead space.
- If someone retweets something you posted, thank them. Acknowledging a retweet goes a long way in the eyes of the person who took the time to retweet your information.
- If you haven’t posted anything for more than a few weeks, your account will appear dead to others and you will no longer be followed by many. Take some time and post something, anything at least a few times a week.
- Show your support for others. Retweet something you enjoyed. Comment on a tweet that really hit home with you.
- If someone follows you, thank them. Whatever you do, don’t spam them by requesting they also look at your Facebook page and “like” it.
- Look for people to follow that genuinely interest you. Try introducing yourself and let the person you are following know why you are interested in keeping up with their tweets.
- If you want to use hashtags, learn how to use them first. Putting hashtags in random places within a sentence won’t make sense and does nothing for you.
- Make sure you have a picture on your Twitter account. Looking at a colored egg is impersonal and won’t allow you to stand out.
- Make sure you have a good profile set up. State a little bt about yourself. Don’t worry if it isn’t particularly clever. People would still like to know you are a writer (for instance). Make sure you put in a link to your blog, website or Facebook page so people can really connect to you and learn who you are.
- Above all else, have fun. Twitter shouldn’t be stressful or feel like an obligation.
Have I forgotten a key point? Please add what you think is important to do on Twitter in the comment section. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Wendy McCance
To contact Wendy McCance about a writing or social media assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]
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Great tips Wendy! I cannot wait to implement them!
Thanks for the comment Emily. I’m glad you found the article useful.
excellent post! I particularly liked the interaction part - tweeted i (well, buffered a tweet - you’ll see it when it comes out 😉
I’d like to add the spelling aspect though - i am always annoyed when i see someone tweeting with weird (or not so weird but still) abbreviations. Text speak i think it’s called; or twitter lingo?!
I know it’s just 140 characters but i really like when you say thank you for the retweet (ok, RT is fine!) and not 10x 4 RT - what is this, are you really thankful or just in a hurry 😀
Good point. Thanks for the tweet by the way. 🙂
Thanks for this Wendy, but I don’t have a Twitter account yet. I know where to come when I do get one though! I like to get a feel for things before I go ahead and jump in, so this is all very helpful. Hope your home decorating is going well, I’ve been wondering how you are getting along 🙂
Hi Sherri, our downstairs bathroom has been repainted and we switched out the fixtures. Really love how it turned out. Our upstairs bathroom has been a nightmare. We have wallpaper that has been a bear to get off the walls. I have even asked my husband if we could just put up new drywall. I haven’t done anything else with the front hall. There is wallpaper there too and I am nervous to tackle it. 🙂
Oooh, I have removed my fair share of wallpaper over the years so I feel your pain Wendy! Still, your downstairs bathroom sounds lovelym always so good to know that the redecorating has turned out so well 🙂
Hi Wendy,
Great post. I think my problem is inconsistency. I used to thank people for following me and somehow got away from that. I do thank people for any retweets. I just don’t go on Twitter or any social media that much and that’s where my inconsistency comes in. I like writing my blog and being a homemaker and what that entails. Every once in a while, I will find myself on some social media or reader and comment on blogs or Twitter, but that’s it. I created a personal Facebook page just to like people back that liked my blog page. I felt obligated to do that. I don’t go on Facebook at all, though, and lately have thought about deleting the account because I just don’t do anything with it. I think that’s where I have a hard time drawing a line: how much of it is socialization and how much of it is obligation?
Sincerely,
Karina
Hi Karina,
Don’t be too hard on yourself. To do it right, social media can be a full-time job. That’s why social media marketers have become so popular. People hand over the task to a company to keep up and stay relevant.
The article was written because I have been dealing with the same issue. Between raising 3 kids, doing social media maintenance for a few companies and getting some writing assignments, the thing I put last is my own social media upkeep. I was shook up when I realized that a little time away from touching on these sites lowered my Klout score, Google analytics and I was losing followers quickly. It’s an exhausting and fickle thing this social media, but it makes all the difference if you are looking to stay relevant and are looking for more work.
Wishing you all the best in your own juggle of these platforms. 🙂
Thank you, Wendy. I often wonder how some people are able to juggle it while maintaining homes, raising children, etc. Your answer gives me some insight as to how some do it. I appreciate your honesty.
Sincerely,
Karina
Your welcome Karina. Feel free to ask anything. I’m happy to share experiences. Like I tell my daughter, we aren’t as unique as we think. You would be surprised how many people feel the same way or have the same struggles. Many just don’t share it out loud. 🙂
Wendy - Great post. In order to maintain a presence on social media you really need to interact with people. Hence the word “social” I find that many times people do not engage with others and those are the ones who seem to become stuck. 🙂
I am astounded at the number of Twitter accounts that just repeat the same info or throw out quotes. It’s like a robot created the account.