Vicky writes …. How I got to 10K targeted and engaging Twitter followers

I got to 10K Twitter followers. A milestone that I wanted to reach.

In this post I share with you how I got there, how I got to 10K targeted and engaging Twitter followers.  Let me just make one thing clear… This is not one of the “Buy 10K Twitter Followers” posts, in fact I would stay far, far away from them. I see no point in purchasing followers. The real key lies in “targeted” and “engaging” followers, you will never get that with paid followers.

What About All the Noise and Offer Promotions on Twitter

There are a lot of non social people on Twitter, they are there to push their own offer with no intension of engaging with others.

It can be overwhelming opening your inbox filled with “buy this” “click here” “don’t miss this…” or one of my favorite “as a token of my appreciation…” lol they all scream “sign up to my list and purchase my offer”.

It’s sad how many take out the social in social media.

But, the good thing is…

Ones in a while you run into people that are there for the same reasons you are, to connect, to engage and to create long term contacts. These are the people that you will happily help, that you will work closer with and bond with.

These people, I want to engage with and they are the reason I’m still on Twitter.

So let’s see how I got to the 10K…

5 Things That Got Me to 10K Targeted and Engaging Twitter Followers

1. Engagement

Act like you would around your “real” friends. Be kind, tell somebody that you like their content if it’s good, if they share something funny leave a comment. Be present and ask how people’s day is going. Share both your own helpful content and others.

What about automated welcome messages?

I’ve been very torn about using an automated message. I see this feature being so abused by many, sending out spam messages.

I have found a great way that works for me though. I use the paid crowdfire subscription service, that will remove the @crowdfire stamp. I send a friendly message, asking how things are going. No link, no offer, just a friendly hello.

This helps me start a conversation with people that are open for one. I have even gotten responses saying, “thank you so much for your friendly welcome, refreshing to not just get a sales offer”.

It’s a great way to start a conversation.

2. Be Helpful and Friendly

If people ask questions, help them out. Search Twitter for related questions in your niche. It can also be statements like “I want to…” I want to loose weight, I want to take a paint class, I want to teach my dog to sit… whatever your niche is, find what people are looking for and help them with that.

People will thank you for helping them.

There are many ways to help. You can help by answering a question, by sending them to one of your posts that will help them, even to send them to an offer IF it is a good solution to their problem.

3. Follow Relevant People

Follow people that are relevant to what you do. I look for people who enjoy blogging, affiliate marketing, content creation and things related to that. Who do you want to connect with?

Do you unfollow if somebody doesn’t follow back?

I give people some time to follow back, if they don’t I usually unfollow them unless I get great value from the person.

I also follow back if the person following me is relevant to what I do. Now if you are selling twitter followers, if tweets are inappropriate or if you are a company with the only reason being on Twitter is to sell, I will not follow back.

4. Continuity

Continuity with both engagement and tweet submission.

I usually take a few minutes each and everyday, to reply to direct messages, to answer questions and to comment on retweets and likes.

I also make sure that I have my tweet submissions in order.

The question is what’s the ultimate tweet frequency?

You will find suggestions of everything from 2 tweets daily to multiple tweets / hour. This is something you will have to test out with your own followers. I started out with a couple of tweets a day and worked myself up to about 1 tweet hourly.

I use the tool, crowdfire, to schedule my tweets, it saves me a lot of times and it allows me to post even when I’m not available.

I also include a nice image with most of my tweets. Using a nice image has given me a lot of great feedback, it’s a great way to connect with people.

If you think about it, you will tweet… you have a few seconds to catch the attention of your followers to keep the tweet going by retweeting… If not, it will disappear into the Twitter clouds.

Now I will say this, I have unfollowed people because they filled my Twitter feed with tons of tweets, 10 tweets / minute, is just too many.

Best way is to try things out and find your own tweeting sweet spot!

5. Commitment

Getting 10K real, engaging, targeted followers will not happen over night. It took me about 8 months to do it, it might take you longer or you might get it done quicker. It depends on how much time you have to spend on Twitter.

The key is to commit to get it done, take consistent action with tweet submissions, engagement and followers.

Use the suggestions above and you will get relevant, engaging followers.

Twitter is time consuming, but you also meet some great people.

There are no secrets to this, engage, be helpful, stay consistent, commit, follow relevant people and have fun!

More on Twitter:

• 10 Things That Will Help You Grow Targeted Twitter Followers
• 7 Things to Do to Create Lasting Relationships on Twitter
• Help Me Understand Why Some Still Use These Highly Annoying Habits on Twitter

What’s your next Twitter goal, how many followers are you trying to reach?  Have a productive day!

Vicky