I have been trying to grow my Twitter Followers. Not just for me but for my clients too.
Most people I talk to don’t quite understand Twitter and most don’t understand how to gain followers.
When you start to build quality followers you can start to build relationships and build traffic to your online business.
I decided to create a quick list for you (and for my own reference). Here are 20 ways I have found to build more Twitter Followers.
oh and follow me @natedevore
- Write Epic Content. Good content is obviously much easier to get Re-tweeted. Focus on something truly unique you have to offer.
- Add your @twitterusername to your blog and other branding material. I have paced mine in my bio in the sidebar. You could also place it beneath each post in your author bio. Read this on how to add an author bio in Thesis.
- Use Twitter Search. Search for keywords related to your niche. When you find people interested in the same topic, follow them, RT their messages, and reply to their tweets.
- Only Follow those who are in your niche. By sharing your story and message to others who can relate, you have a much higher chance of getting more followers.
- Follow every day. If you start following 100 people a day that means in 1 month you will be following around three thousand. If only 20% follow back, that means you gained about 600 followers. This is a bit spammy for my tastes but some have had success with it. Remember to only target those in your niche.
- Pay your followers. Offer to donate to your followers $1 per follower. You could even donate to charity or DonorsChoose.org. Would you follow me if I offered you a $1?
- Offer Coupons and exclusive deals. This is great for mid to large sized companies. Hold a contest only on your Twitter profile and get users to follow you for the special deals.
- Re-tweet (RT) the people you are following. Use the format RT @twittername. People will like that you have RT their information and might return the favor. When they do, you get more exposure. Thus more followers (potentially). You have to write killer content though.
- Ask your followers to take action. If you are trying to get more Digg’s or Re-tweets for a blog post, you should ask your followers. Simply provide the link to the blog post and say please RT and Digg this post. Chances are you may get a few more visitors that will find your blog and connect with you on Twitter.
- Don’t clog the Twittersphere. What I mean is be considerate to others and only tweet valuable information. If you find yourself creating long conversations, take it to Direct Messages.
- Twitter Lists. Build a Twitter list to monitor those who matter to you.
- Take part in Twitter Chats. For example, when you write a Tweet, use #blogchat to post blog related content in the blogger chat. Here is a great list of Twitter Chats.
- Leave room for RT. Some say to use all 140 characters of a tweet message. I say, leave some space so that your followers can effectively RT your message. Give this a try and see if more people Re-tweet.
- Stay Relevant. Tweet about pertinent and interesting information, make sure you have a profile picture and fill out your bio, and cater to what your audience wants to know. You will gain and keep more followers in no time at all.
- Twitter’s Public Timeline. The more active you are on Twitter, the more exposure you have to Twitter’s Public Timeline.
- Ask questions on Twitter. That’s the easiest way to get conversation going. Get 5 people to answer a question and you will gain at-least 1 follower.
- Give exceptional value. This comes back to content. If you provide real value to your twitter followers you will gain more RT’s and more followers. Sure you can throw in personal tweets and some fun once in a while, but you still need to provide information, entertainment, news, education, and so on.
- Tweet during normal business hours. If you track the times of peak interaction on Twitter, you might notice that 9-5 (USA) seems to be a good time to get your information out on Twitter.
- Be Genuine. Be yourself and don’t try to copy someone else. This is the same for your blog. Be unique, and as Seth Godin would say, be a purple cow.
- 12-1. Chris Brogan wrote a while back that his golden ratio of 12-1 was essential. He talks about other people 12 times before he talks about his stuff.
Like the list? Follow me on Twitter for awesome resources. @natedevore
Please share and RT this list too!
Nate is a 24-year-old Internet Marketer & WordPress Guru who helps businesses and individuals understand how to market online with The Social Web.
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I'm Nate Devore, a 23-year-old Internet Marketer and owner of 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the mention, Nate. These is the way to get more followers — just remember to focus on quality not quantity. Plenty of folks with 10K+ followers are not quality tweeters. I have a client with fewer than 1000 followers and he’s getting as much benefit as I am with more because he’s working with a specific market.
Thank you Meryl for the comment. Great point. I always remind myself of this. Quality content and quality followers. I once read that 150 quality followers might be all you need.
Regards,
Nate.