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Increase your Twitter followers in 3 easy steps

by Donna Johnson

I continue to receive a lot of questions about how to increase Twitter followers. I am planning a webinar for my Indie Beauties on the topic. In the meantime, here are some tips everyone can use. These are short and sweet. And they work. I have 2,434 Twitter followers as of this moment. Following this method, I will have at least 10 more by the end of the workday. Here's how you can do it too.

1. Help

Who are you helping by posting a Tweet? If it's yourself, that's legitimate. Just don't help yourself all the time. Help others. Did someone post their good news? Reply to them with a congratulatory note. Did someone ask for help in an area of your expertise? Offer it. Is someone new to Twitter? Welcome them. Did someone ask for retweets? Retweet! Is your new blog post helpful to other Indie Business owners? Share it, with a request for comments. And remember to comment back if you get any blog visitors.

Every helpful Tweet results in new followers.

2. Share

What can you share? If it's your new product or service, that's great. Just don't be obnoxious about it, sharing, re-sharing and recycling your same ol' stuff over and over again. Is there a great post in Digg or StumbleUpon? Share it. Did you read a fantastic newspaper or magazine article? Share it. Did you discover a new blog plugin, online tutorial or helpful business or household hint? Share it. Just like in the sand box, don't keep the good toys to yourself. Share them with others. And when you share, remember to share the link to the post, picture, video or whatever. (Nothing is more annoying than a Tweet that says, "Hey, great video! Thanks for sharing!" and there's no link for people reading that Tweet to click on to see the great video.)

Every sharing Tweet results in new followers.

3. Entertain

That's right, entertain people. Share a laugh, make folks think, help them get their creative juices flowing. Did you hear a good joke (that's suitable for public dissemination)? Post it. Did you find an entertaining video on YouTube or at someone else's blog? Post that. Did you do something fun? Take a photo and post it using Twitpic. Are you live on UStream? Spread the word so others can join you. Make people smile as you also inform and enlighten them.

Every entertaining Tweet results in new followers.

Twitterer Beware!

Oh! And while I'm at it, remember the 08: second rule, which I learned here, as a result of James Andrews' (@keyinfluencer's) recent "Twitter Situation":

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Tagged as: donna maria, followers, indie business, james andrews, keyinfluencer, Social Media, twitter

posted on January 22, 2009 ·

Facebook comments:

  • http://profile.typekey.com/indiedonna/ Donna Maria Coles Johnson

    It’s 2:31pm, about 4 hours or so after I posted this article. I now have 10 more followers than I did when I posted the article. I have Tweeted 8 times as follows:
    - 1 personal Tweet (about my daughter’s hair) (entertain)
    - 2 replies to other Tweets (share)
    - 1 Retweet (help)
    - 1 kind of funny question seeking input from others (entertain)
    - 1 Tweet of this blog post (help, share)
    - 1 Tweet of an NPR article about the inauguration (share, entertain)
    - 1 Tweet of an IBN member video (share, entertain)
    Have you tried it yet?

  • http://profile.typekey.com/indiedonna/ Donna Maria Coles Johnson

    It’s 2:31pm, about 4 hours or so after I posted this article. I now have 10 more followers than I did when I posted the article. I have Tweeted 8 times as follows:
    - 1 personal Tweet (about my daughter’s hair) (entertain)
    - 2 replies to other Tweets (share)
    - 1 Retweet (help)
    - 1 kind of funny question seeking input from others (entertain)
    - 1 Tweet of this blog post (help, share)
    - 1 Tweet of an NPR article about the inauguration (share, entertain)
    - 1 Tweet of an IBN member video (share, entertain)
    Have you tried it yet?

  • http://www.urbanapothecary.com/ Cheri Tracy

    Great article, dM. I’m curious…How many times a day do you tweet on average?

  • http://www.urbanapothecary.com Cheri Tracy

    Great article, dM. I’m curious…How many times a day do you tweet on average?

  • http://profile.typekey.com/indiedonna/ Donna Maria Coles Johnson

    @Cheri: I Twitter (or do I Tweet?) about 20 times a day. I think that’s a fair average for me. Are you going to try this method? Would love to know how it works for you if so.

  • http://profile.typekey.com/indiedonna/ Donna Maria Coles Johnson

    @Cheri: I Twitter (or do I Tweet?) about 20 times a day. I think that’s a fair average for me. Are you going to try this method? Would love to know how it works for you if so.

  • http://www.lilithsapothecary.etsy.com/ Sarah Powell

    Why does one want so many followers? Just as a kind of increase in publicity for your business? I guess this is just another marketing tool?

  • http://www.lilithsapothecary.etsy.com Sarah Powell

    Why does one want so many followers? Just as a kind of increase in publicity for your business? I guess this is just another marketing tool?

  • http://southernhandmadegifts.com/ Meredith Crosby

    Great tips and I could not agree more. Plus now after reading this I will follow you, plus one more…..post good blog post about twitter, lol, get more followers. I am at about 1910 right now and I find that I got them the exactly way you detailed along with one other that might be considered a given…..follow those who interest you ( and that have relatively close amount of follower and those they follow…meaning they follow back) and most ….I’d guess-timate roughly 80% will follow back.
    Great info and I am sure you helped many people add to their followers.

  • http://southernhandmadegifts.com Meredith Crosby

    Great tips and I could not agree more. Plus now after reading this I will follow you, plus one more…..post good blog post about twitter, lol, get more followers. I am at about 1910 right now and I find that I got them the exactly way you detailed along with one other that might be considered a given…..follow those who interest you ( and that have relatively close amount of follower and those they follow…meaning they follow back) and most ….I’d guess-timate roughly 80% will follow back.
    Great info and I am sure you helped many people add to their followers.

  • Donna Maria @ Indie Business

    @Sarah:
    If you are a small business owner, here’s why you’d want more followers on Twitter.
    1. More followers means more opportunities to help more people.
    2. More followers demonstrates to you and others that the product or service you offer is worth paying attention to at least, and buying at most.
    3. More followers means more people who are exposed to your brand. The more exposure you have, the more credibility you have. The more credibility you have, the more sales you have. The more sales you have, the more profit you have. The more profit you have, the more fun you have. The more fun you have, the more enjoyable lifestyle you have.
    Does that make any sense?
    Thanks for your question. I’m interested to hear what others have to say on this topic.

  • Donna Maria @ Indie Business

    @Sarah:
    If you are a small business owner, here’s why you’d want more followers on Twitter.
    1. More followers means more opportunities to help more people.
    2. More followers demonstrates to you and others that the product or service you offer is worth paying attention to at least, and buying at most.
    3. More followers means more people who are exposed to your brand. The more exposure you have, the more credibility you have. The more credibility you have, the more sales you have. The more sales you have, the more profit you have. The more profit you have, the more fun you have. The more fun you have, the more enjoyable lifestyle you have.
    Does that make any sense?
    Thanks for your question. I’m interested to hear what others have to say on this topic.

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