When you use Twitter you want people to see the things you tweet about so you need people to ‘follow’ you. If no-one is following you then you’re basically talking to yourself.
The easiest way to start is for YOU to follow people, they’ll notice that you’ve followed them (if they check their @Connect tab) and hopefully your profile is so enticing they’ll follow you back!
Who to follow
If we start with the notion that if we follow someone they’ll possibly follow us back then we need to follow the right people. There’s not much point in following random folk – they need to be those who can help you achieve your business objectives – those who can teach you things you need to know, prospective customers, suppliers, your existing network who will be happy to share your tweets, referral partners. Go back and look at the ‘Build a targeted network’ section in the free ebook: ‘Generating Leads with Social Media’ (or alternatively see the Exercise at the end of this section).
Note: You can follow anyone on Twitter who has their account set at ‘public’. They don’t have to approve you first, which makes it much easier to connect with people and start to build relationships.
People you already know
If you already know someone (e.g. offline networking contacts, existing customers etc) they’ll be more likely to follow you back, comment on your tweets and retweet what you say. If Contact A comments on your tweet or retweets you this shows up on the timeline of the people who follow Contact A, which gets you in front of even more people and helps you grow your network.
How to find the people you already know
Click the #Discover tab and then click Find Friends. If you already know their Twitter username then it’s a simple process of typing it into the search box and finding the right account. Click the follow button next to their name.
Generating Leads with Twitter
That person will then be added to the list of people you are following and you will start to see their Tweets on your home page in the tweet stream.
If you don’t know their Twitter
Twitter account. This is why when filling your own profi
name or Twitter @username is something easy to find in a search. Your photo or logo is also very important for this reason because
gets a whole list of results you want them to be able to easily pick out your account.
Note: When you type a name into the search box and click enter you’ll be presented with the ‘tweet’ search results, which means you’ll see tweets that have that name included rather than Twitter accounts of that name. To see Twitter accounts with that name click on the ‘people’ option. (see below).
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
That person will then be added to the list of people you are following and you will start to see their Tweets on your home page in the tweet stream.
If you don’t know their Twitter username then enter their actual name to see if they have a Twitter account. This is why when filling your own profile out you need to make sure your
username is something easy to find in a search. Your photo or logo is nt for this reason because if someone you know does a search for you and gets a whole list of results you want them to be able to easily pick out your account.
Note: When you type a name into the search box and click enter you’ll be presented with weet’ search results, which means you’ll see tweets that have that name included rather than Twitter accounts of that name. To see Twitter accounts with that name click on the ‘people’ option. (see below).
Page 39 That person will then be added to the list of people you are following and you will start to
then enter their actual name to see if they have a le out you need to make sure your username is something easy to find in a search. Your photo or logo is
does a search for you and gets a whole list of results you want them to be able to easily pick out your account.
Note: When you type a name into the search box and click enter you’ll be presented with weet’ search results, which means you’ll see tweets that have that name included rather than Twitter accounts of that name. To see Twitter accounts with that name click on
Generating Leads with Twitter
You can also see if any of the people you
email server (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL). Once you grant access you will be presented with a list of your contacts who do have a Twitter account and an option to follow them.
You’ll also see a list of the ones who don’t have a Twitter account with an option to invite them to join Twitter.
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
also see if any of the people you know have a Twitter account by connecting to your email server (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL). Once you grant access you will be presented with a list of your contacts who do have a Twitter account and an option to follow them.
the ones who don’t have a Twitter account with an option to invite
Page 40 have a Twitter account by connecting to your email server (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL). Once you grant access you will be presented with a list of your contacts who do have a Twitter account and an option to follow them.
the ones who don’t have a Twitter account with an option to invite
Generating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com Page 41 Note: Before you run off and start looking for people to follow, please read ‘Creating Lists’ at the end of this section.
Finding other people to follow
Look at who other people are following to see if there’s anyone interesting you’d like to follow. Go to your home page and click on ‘following’. This brings up a list of the people you’re following with a clip of their Twitter bio. Click on someone’s name to bring up their profile summary. Underneath their photo & bio will be ‘Tweets’ ‘Following’ and ‘Followers’.
Click on either Following or Followers to bring up a list.
You can then browse these lists to see if there’s anyone you’d like to follow. Before you click the follow button, click on the person’s name to bring up their profile summary – you can then check when they last tweeted. Take a look through their last few tweets, does this person tweet the kind of things you would be interested in? (If someone hasn’t tweeted for quite a while then it’s probably not worth following them as they may have stopped using Twitter).
You may also want to take a look at who your competitors are following and who is following them. But remember they can also do the same to you.
Twitter’s Who to Follow feature
Click the #Discover tab, then click ‘Who to Follow’. Twitter will give you a list of suggestions based on the type of people you’re already following and keywords you’ve got in your own bio.
Browse Categories
You can also click Browse Categories from the #Discover tab. You’ll be presented with a selection of categories, each having a number of suggestions for Twitter accounts to follow.
Generating Leads with Twitter
Do you want to follow people in certain professions but don
The Advanced Search feature is very useful for finding people this way.
By typing keywords into the advanced search feature you can find people to follow based on what they’re talking about. See Page 14 of the ‘Tour of Twitter’ Section
Advanced Search page.
Example: If you want to connect with may include in their tweets i.e
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
Do you want to follow people in certain professions but don’t know any names?
feature is very useful for finding people this way.
By typing keywords into the advanced search feature you can find people to follow based on what they’re talking about. See Page 14 of the ‘Tour of Twitter’ Section for how to find the
Example: If you want to connect with accountants do a search for the type of words th i.e. self-assessment or tax return.
Page 42
’t know any names?
By typing keywords into the advanced search feature you can find people to follow based on for how to find the
do a search for the type of words they
Generating Leads with Twitter
Hit the search button and you’ll get a results include those words in the location you specified.
You can then browse the tweets, see if any of the people mentioning those words are accountants (remember to click on the name to bring up their profile s
click follow.
Note: If you don’t type in a specific location you’ll get tweets from people anywhere in the world, so if you need local connections you’ll need to use this search parameter.
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
Hit the search button and you’ll get a results page that by default will show you tweets that include those words in the location you specified.
then browse the tweets, see if any of the people mentioning those words are accountants (remember to click on the name to bring up their profile summary) and then
Note: If you don’t type in a specific location you’ll get tweets from people anywhere in the world, so if you need local connections you’ll need to use this search parameter.
Page 43 page that by default will show you tweets that
then browse the tweets, see if any of the people mentioning those words are ummary) and then
Note: If you don’t type in a specific location you’ll get tweets from people anywhere in the world, so if you need local connections you’ll need to use this search parameter.
Generating Leads with Twitter Creating Lists
Once you start following lots of people on Twitter your timeline can become a little unmanageable! Unless you’re sitting in front of Twitter 24/7 there’s no way you can read every tweet from every follower.
You’ll notice lots of people on Twitter who have thousands o following thousands of people back
keep up with it all?!’ The answer is they’re probably not.
It’s up to you whether you follow back everyone who follows you
a polite thing to do and others will only follow people they have an interest in right now. It’s a personal decision, but if you decide you’re going to follow everyone back then you’ll need to have a way to ‘filter out the noise’ and only conc
can help you meet your objectives now.
To filter out the noise on Twitter they’ve added a fantastic feature called
How to create a list
From your Me tab, click Lists Then click the ‘Create a list’ button
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
following lots of people on Twitter your timeline can become a little unmanageable! Unless you’re sitting in front of Twitter 24/7 there’s no way you can read every tweet from every follower.
You’ll notice lots of people on Twitter who have thousands of followers and are also following thousands of people back – are you thinking to yourself ‘how on earth do they keep up with it all?!’ The answer is they’re probably not.
It’s up to you whether you follow back everyone who follows you – some people th
a polite thing to do and others will only follow people they have an interest in right now. It’s a personal decision, but if you decide you’re going to follow everyone back then you’ll need to have a way to ‘filter out the noise’ and only concentrate on the tweets of the people who can help you meet your objectives now.
To filter out the noise on Twitter they’ve added a fantastic feature called Lists.
Then click the ‘Create a list’ button.
Page 44 following lots of people on Twitter your timeline can become a little
unmanageable! Unless you’re sitting in front of Twitter 24/7 there’s no way you can read
f followers and are also are you thinking to yourself ‘how on earth do they
some people think this is a polite thing to do and others will only follow people they have an interest in right now. It’s a personal decision, but if you decide you’re going to follow everyone back then you’ll need
entrate on the tweets of the people who
Lists.
Generating Leads with Twitter
Give your list a name. You could set up different lists for existing customers, hot prospects, journalists, influencers, offline contacts etc.
You only need to fill in the description box if you’re going to make the list ‘Public’.
If you leave the list public this means that anyone can browse your list and see who you’ve included on it. Other people can also follow your list without following the people on it. If you make a list ‘Private’ then only you can see that you’ve actually creat
you will see who you’ve put on it.
If you create a list for existing customers you probably want to make it private, but for other lists it’s a personal choice.
I’d advise that you go ahead and create lists for each of the most
people you intend to follow. Then when you find someone to follow you can add them to the appropriate list straight away.
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
You could set up different lists for existing customers, hot prospects, journalists, influencers, offline contacts etc.
You only need to fill in the description box if you’re going to make the list ‘Public’.
leave the list public this means that anyone can browse your list and see who you’ve included on it. Other people can also follow your list without following the people on it. If you make a list ‘Private’ then only you can see that you’ve actually created the list so only you will see who you’ve put on it.
If you create a list for existing customers you probably want to make it private, but for other
I’d advise that you go ahead and create lists for each of the most important categories of people you intend to follow. Then when you find someone to follow you can add them to the appropriate list straight away.
Page 45 You could set up different lists for existing customers, hot prospects,
You only need to fill in the description box if you’re going to make the list ‘Public’.
leave the list public this means that anyone can browse your list and see who you’ve included on it. Other people can also follow your list without following the people on it. If
ed the list so only
If you create a list for existing customers you probably want to make it private, but for other
important categories of people you intend to follow. Then when you find someone to follow you can add them to
Generating Leads with Twitter
To add someone to your list, click the head and shoulders icon next to their follow button and choose ‘add or remove from lists’.
You’ll then be presented with a box that says ‘Your lists’
choose the one most appropriate for that person. You can add people to more than one list.
Note you don’t have to follow someone
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
To add someone to your list, click the head and shoulders icon next to their follow button or remove from lists’.
You’ll then be presented with a box that says ‘Your lists’ – if you’ve created more than one choose the one most appropriate for that person. You can add people to more than one
Note you don’t have to follow someone to add them to your list.
Page 46 To add someone to your list, click the head and shoulders icon next to their follow button
if you’ve created more than one choose the one most appropriate for that person. You can add people to more than one
Generating Leads with Twitter
If you do add someone to a ‘public’ list then that person can see that you’ve done so if they check their ‘Members of’ tab in their own list section. (Find this screen by clicking Me Tab, click Lists)
Filtering out the noise
Once you’ve created your lists and added people to them you can start ‘filtering out the noise’ by clicking on the list you created (you’ll find the lists in the List section on your Me tab). You’ll then be able to read just the tweets from the people in
nerating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com
If you do add someone to a ‘public’ list then that person can see that you’ve done so if they check their ‘Members of’ tab in their own list section. (Find this screen by clicking Me Tab,
Once you’ve created your lists and added people to them you can start ‘filtering out the noise’ by clicking on the list you created (you’ll find the lists in the List section on your Me
You’ll then be able to read just the tweets from the people in that list.
Page 47 If you do add someone to a ‘public’ list then that person can see that you’ve done so if they check their ‘Members of’ tab in their own list section. (Find this screen by clicking Me Tab,
Once you’ve created your lists and added people to them you can start ‘filtering out the noise’ by clicking on the list you created (you’ll find the lists in the List section on your Me
that list.
Generating Leads with Twitter - www.kljsocialmedia.com Page 48 Other Building your network tips
Follower/Following Ratio
Once you’ve followed 2000 people you will have reached a Twitter limit and won’t be able to follow anyone else until the number of people who follow you catches us. You can read more about Twitter Limits in their Help Section here:
https://support.twitter.com/articles/15364
Blocking People
Occasionally you may get someone following you who you don’t particularly want showing up in your list of followers – it wouldn’t look very professional if a prospect took a look at your list of
Occasionally you may get someone following you who you don’t particularly want showing up in your list of followers – it wouldn’t look very professional if a prospect took a look at your list of