Grow a Twitter Following the Smart Way

We encourage that our readers “Twitter for Business.”  As a result, this blog has seen entries on creating an effective Twitter Username (known as an Avatar; 5/18/09) and developing a custom background to represent your business (6/2/09).  My offer still stands to provide a start-up Twitter manual upon request, by emailing me at eric@walkupright.com.  Today’s advice for Twitter users is how to gain Followers who want to hear about your business (and self), and those whom you can learn from.

Twitter for Business has two main goals:

A) spread your business’s message to clients/prospects
B) engage with industry experts, learn from competitors and reputable voices

Here are 5 techniques to reach both goals in gaining new Followers today:

(1) Before all else!  Write 5 interesting Tweets to encourage prospective Followers to Follow you.  Post 140-character messages that include links to your company’s blog or new product, local news articles online, replies to others’ Tweets, funny quips, or unique industry questions or ideas.  Potential Followers will be drawn to your perspective and will use your posts to gauge your relevance to their own interests.  Visit http://help.twitter.com/portal to learn all relevant Twitter commands/terms.

(2) Visit http://search.twitter.com to find people you personally know, and check out their Followers while you’re at it.  This means co-workers, Friends, vendors, business associates and close customers.  Oftentimes people are more comfortable reaching out to prospective customers and industry leaders when they already have a little “influence” under their belts.  If you have difficulty finding friends who go by unexpected aliases on Twitter, choose advanced search options at http://search.twitter.com/advanced.

(3) Next, use the same links as in #2 above to scope mentions of your product, industry, or business interests in others’ Tweets.  Many times, searching Twitter.com can uncover both prospective customers and fascinating leaders.  Millions Tweet about products and services to ask a question, for which you can provide the solution and be of professional value.  A helpful spirit benefits reputation management, too.  Also, scan groups of people with similar interests at http://www.twibes.com/.

(4) If a local business, Follow locals.  Gain local presence by Following local news and radio stations, museums, schools, parks and event centers…and their Followers.  Visit http://www.twellow.com/twellowhood/ to search for Followers in cities that matter to you.  Offer special discounts such as “first 10 Followers receive 10% off their next purchase!”  Readers will use the RT (Retweet) feature in Twitter to share your discount among their own Followers, broadening your Followship and prospective clientbase.

(5) Participate in #Follow Friday with Friends.  Sign up for http://mrtweet.com to find leading industry voices based on your Bio and Followers’ recommendations.  Show you’re “listening” to the conversations around you by RT (Retweeting), replying to, and DM (Direct Messaging) fellow Twitter users.  Plan to create a lasting interest in yourself and business by offering engaging promos, ideas, helpful links, or daily information your Followers would appreciate.  Stay warm and positive, and promote your website to gain targeted traffic.

Best of luck!  We’re here to support you with any further Twitter questions.