The Lazy Way to 100,000 Twitter Followers
Part 2
Thanks for returning. If you haven't read the first post, no biggie. You'll get something out of this one anyway. Still, you might want to go back when you get the time and check it out.
I have several objectives in writing this blog. First of all, I'd like to show you how to attract and keep your followers with a minimal time investment. Don't forget why you are here. If you're an entrepreneur like me you're here to market yourself as well as your wares, whether it's books, music, real estate, paintings, photography, dance lessons, yoga training, zen insight, self help, cars, clothing, jewelry, cheeseburgers, whatever in the world you are interested enough in sharing with others.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you're in it for the money but a little scratch isn't a bad thing. I don’t know about you, but when I go to the grocery store, they want me to pay for what I've loaded in my basket. Don't get it in your head that making money is a terrible thing... it isn’t. On the other hand, it isn’t the only thing either.
Be nice. That is probably the best advice anyone can give anyone else, not only on Twitter but out there in the big bad world too. People tend to like other people who are nice. Of course there are those who are precisely the opposite, but do you really want to attract a bunch of ying yangs? No. Your objective is to attract folk who will not only follow you back, but who will actively take the time to help you market your merchandise.
That said, you're going to run into people who aren't nice. Don't fret it. They are out there in droves, believe me. If you let them fluster you, that's when they win. Forget about that crap, do them and yourself a favor, and block them. There are over 200,000,000 people out there using Twitter. You don't need to let a few of the naysayers get all up in your business. We'll go into the nuances of blocking people later.
Remember, Twitter is supposed to be fun. You'll meet tons of wonderful folk on Twitter who are just like you, good people who are only too willing to help out others. Those are the ones you not only want to follow, but you need to follow. They are the ones who will help you grow your business whatever it happens to be. You'll discover that a team effort far exceeds any singular effort you can make on your own.
To that end, I've elected to include in this book a bit of sage advice along the way. If you're not into that sort of stuff, skip over it. I realize you are reading this book to learn a little something about Twitter and not about living the good life but believe or not they often go together. Now, I'm not about to bust your chops over a lot of self help garbage like the good Dr. Phil but I do believe by using some of my own life experiences I can better explicate the subtle nuances of Twitter that sometimes escape the attention of the more astute.
You'll want to make friends on Twitter but you don’t want to spend all day talking to those friends. The great thing about Twitter is that your discussions can take place over many days and weeks, even months, without insulting anyone. You will attract Twitter followers from all over the planet. Talking to those folk often means you may well be snoozing by the time they answer you.
The difference in time zones can work to your advantage as well. By retweeting your tweets for you, your overseas followers are willing and able to advertise your merchandise while you sleep and visa versa. And take my advice: don’t worry too much about the language barrier. I have followers that speak everything from Arabic to Zulu and I have sold books in just as many countries.
I'll also briefly mention this now and perhaps I'll have time to go into it more in depth later: schedule your time. This is one of the biggest downfalls to success, be it Twitter, your artwork, family life, or your job: everything you do in life depends on you making the time. I hear it all the time... oh, I can't get into my music right now... maybe when I have the time. You know, I'm planning to write that book but the time just isn’t there right now.
Oh, I know... you're the free spirit. You only write when the muse hits you in the mouth... you only paint when you are good and ready. Blah, blah, blah. Get over it. You're not that special. All the great doers have accomplished what they've done by scheduling time to do it. Nothing is happenstance to writers like James Patterson or Stephen King. They make time for everything by consistently sticking a schedule.
That doesn’t mean that all you do is work on your art to the detriment of all else. There is no quicker way to fail. But do make the time for your art and Twitter and your life and do so consistently. Find your niche both time wise and location wise. Maybe you can't afford your own art studio but looking around my house I notice each room has four corners. Pick one and claim it as your space. No, not in my house... do it in your house.
Okay, enough of my holding forth... let's get back to Twitter. Maybe you have 300 steady followers. That's a good start. Tell me though... how many retweets do you do on a consistent basis? By that I mean sitting down at least once a day and retweeting others... there is a fine line between using Twitter and being used by it. Pick a time to send out retweets for some of your followers and make note of which ones do the same for you. Retweets are the whole reason we're on Twitter. Let me tell you why...
(to be continued...)
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