Twitter Tools, Part 3: It’s ALL About Content

Getting followers on Twitter is not that difficult. Plenty of people have this part automated – they will follow you back just because you chose to follow them, even if you don’t post ANY updates.  I get new follower notifications several times a week that come from Twitter users with blank profiles and no updates, but with dozens or even hundreds of followers.

Being followed on Twitter doesn’t mean being heard.  And I assume being heard and better yet, being listened to by people who matter to you and your business, is one of your Twitter goals.

But how can you get these very important Twitterers to start following you and actually read your updates and open the links you provide?

The best way to get them to follow you is to start following them and actually reading and replying to their messages via your status updates. That’s using re-tweets (RT) and direct mentions (@username).

But to get others to listen to you, you’ll have to talk about something of interest to them. That’s just too simple – stuff like tips and tricks, hot news in your niche, sharing helpful articles and other online resources, books you’re reading, etc.

This is especially important if you’re still working on establishing yourself as a niche authority. When most of your followers don’t know you or your level of expertise, they might be more inclined to listen to more authoritative sources to which you provide links.

But don’t just re-tweet others’ updates. Instead, mix such re-tweets with other types of updates, including:

• Tweet about an event in your niche – teleseminar, expo, telecourse, etc;
• Recommend products and services you really like and find useful;
• Inspirational quotes;
• Helpful tips;
• News about your business;
• Project you are currently working on (whether for yourself or for a client);
• Products and services for which you are an affiliate;
• Comments about articles and blog posts – yours and others’;
• Discuss news relevant to your niche and of interest to your target audience;
• Ask questions or answer them;
• Recommend your friend’s e-book, blog post, newsletter, etc.

Although some of the updates can be automated, don’t get carried away with automating too much. Most people don’t care to listen to someone who simply repeats others’ ideas or promotes her own site or product.

 

Some of the tools you might want to use (in moderation) include

 

Twitterfeed - if you oftentimes feel the urge to share posts from the blogs you follow, do so through Twitterfeed. Add a few of your most favorite blogs’ RSS feeds to the Twitterfeed and specify update frequency (from hourly to daily). Then sit back and enjoy sharing.

 

Tweet Later – Tweet Later offers a great way to set up alerts, schedule tweets, send thank you DMs, and more.

 

Twisten.fm, Twitpic, TweeTube, Acamin - these services make it easier to share music, photos, videos and files with your followers on Twitter.

 

Glue – this Firefox plugin is great for sharing books, movies, restaurants and more.

 

Technorati Tags: Twitter, Twitter tools

Related posts:

1. Twitter Tools, Part 2: Stay in Touch
2. Twitter – What Can I Say (that would help my business)?
3. How to Get 5000 Twitter Followers by Next Monday