How do you gain more followers on Twitter? This is the question asked by countless people. Since I’ve read many blog posts that reveal the secrets of getting mass followers, I decide not to bore you with those general techniques that you can find via a single Google search. Instead, I want to point out 5 unique methods that have worked particularly well for me. Even better, if you can apply these 5 techniques to your unique background and the situations you face at this point of your life, you will get amazing results. Without further ado, let’s see if these 5 tips make sense to you.
1. Provide Valuable Content
Principle: Content is king. No matter you have a blog, a Facebook or Twitter account, always remember to provide something that is worthwhile, something that provides value.
Example: Here are some dos and don’ts when it comes to tweeting valuable content.
| What to Tweet | What to Avoid |
| Inspirational messages; | Repeatedly pitch your own products/services; |
| A good book you’ve read; | Make up random stories; |
| Retweet valuable content from others; | Spam/Tweet way too often; |
| A useful link you’ve found; | Share your affiliate links nonstop; |
| A “how-to” blog post you’ve composed; | Share everything in your life even though it’s boring; |
| Meaningful local events, seminars; | Lose courtesy of responding to questions addressed to you; |
| A good lesson you’ve learned; | Spread negative messages; |
| Facts that could benefit others; | Attack/defame others (They may be following you); |
| A public declaration about your goals; | Lose focus of what you stand for; |
| Something interesting and humorous. | Use others’ content without adding “RT”. |
2. Write Down How Many Followers You Would Like to Gain and How
Principle: Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis was offering Twitter $250,000 to lock in a spot on the suggested list for two years, according to a TechCrunch Report back in March. Is a suggested slot on Twitter really worth that much? Perhaps so. At least that’s what the Mahalo CEO thought. There is no doubt this microblogging service is going to get even more popular in the future. Therefore, if you want to treat Twitter seriously, you’d better make it a daily task and make measurable progress in reasonable time. Most importantly, your goal must be in writing with a deadline.
Example: At the beginning of each day, I usually write down a list of things I want to accomplish by the end of the day. Here is what a typical list looks like:
- Go to gym;
- Read for an hour;
- Write a blog post;
- Tweet (Fill in the blank) times and get (Fill in the blank) followers;
- Etc…
Surprisingly, this really works wonders for me. I would often check back to my twitter to see how effectively my tweet is. Sometimes, a bad tweet can cause you to lose followers. If you subscribe to Qwitter, it will email you after someone unfollows you. TwitterCounter can show you the new users you are adding per day, if you’d like to monitor your progress.
3. Link Them Up
Principle: I like the podcast show “Diggnation” by Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht. At the end of each episode, both of them would make sure they tell the public about where to find them on Twitter. The technique usually works pretty well. Since social networking sites are a dime a dozen nowadays, why not spread your Twitter link across different sites to drastically increase its public exposure?
Example: Here is how I link my Twitter account with the different social networking profiles I have (Click on each link to check it out).
- Google Profile – Google profile is the best. You can add as many links as you want. It is highly searchable. If you Google search my name Andrew Wong, you would be able to find my picture at the bottom of the first search results page;
- Meetup – I love Meetup. If you like Meetup groups, check out the top 20 groups that I compiled. As the NYEBN organizer, Meetup has become a top performer in terms of sending people to both my Twitter and Facebook profiles;
- Facebook – You need to link your Twitter account to Facebook. Why? Because Facebook is the largest networking site in the world, according to the most recent comScore report;
- LinkedIn – The biggest professional social network in the world. Check out these 30 top LinkedIn groups if you are interested;
- Web Studio 13 (My Blog);
- Disque;
- MyBlogLog;
- FriendFeed;
- Comments – If you leave a comment on popular blogs such as TechCrunch or Mashable, make sure you embed your Twitter link there;
- Email – Include your Twitter link in your email signature;
- Cards – Print your Twitter Link on your business cards;
- Etc…
4. Expand Overseas
Principle: Rarely was this technique being mentioned before. But don’t forget Twitter is just gaining popularity in the US, Australia and India (ReadWriteWeb). How about other foreign countries? Namely China. In the US, we only talk about building factories and importing stuff from China. Let’s not forget the potential Internet user size in that country. Note: I use China as an example here only because I’ve tried the techniques with some Chinese friends and it worked well. It doesn’t mean you can’t apply this technique to Brazil or other countries.
Example: QQ is still the largest social media tool used by Chinese. The reason why Chinese don’t have Facebook and Twitter fevers like Americans do is mainly because they are not aware of the features. I’ve been trying to educate them about the main Twitter features by blogging on some hugely popular Chinese sites, such as QQ.com (Alexa: 14), Sina (Alexa: 22), Taobao (Alexa: 38), 163 (Alexa: 39), Sohu (Alexa: 57), etc. So far, the feedback and response have been amazing. So the 4th rule is to be a diligent preacher and spread the words about Twitter around the globe.
5. Only Compete With Yourself
Principle: In the beginning days when I first started using Twitter, I had a tendency to compete with those top Twitter users. As days went by, I just started to become realistic. Reason is that it’s simply impossible to compete with celebrities or the people listed on the Twitter suggested user list. The important attitude I hold true to myself now is to only compete with myself. It’s important to make measurable progress in reasonable time. If you had 1 follower yesterday but getting 2 followers today, I call that as “Progress.”
Example: Refer to the “Goal Sheet” that I suggested previously. Make sure you are going toward your goal instead of stepping away. There are many good tools to monitor your progress, refer to this post for a list of monitoring tools you can use.
Conclusion
Lastly, make sure you have the consistency in tweeting each day. Tweeting 100 messages only on Fridays doesn’t necessarily mean you are a good Twitter. Finally, here is a recommended reading list if you want to further explore this subject.
How to Get More Twitter Followers: Some Methods That Work (DoshDosh)
How to Get More Followers on Twitter (TwiTip)
Kevin Rose: 10 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers (By Kevin Rose via TechCrunch)
So what is your favorite way of getting followers? What do you think about the five tips given here? Would appreciate it if you could leave your input.
