3 Tips to Getting More Twitter Followers

Let's talk about Twitter.  Have one?  It's awesome, right?  Don't have one?  Why the hell not?  Maybe you have an account but you're struggling with growing your following?  I feel your pain and you are NOT alone.  Twitter is tough.  Like many people explain it, it's like that party everyone is invited to, but in order to have fun and make the most of it, you have to work for it.  Put yourself out there, mingle with strangers who you hope to become friends, and perhaps get caught up in the wrong crowd from time to time.

Now, I'm no Twitter expert, but I first created my account back in April 2009.  For the most part, I have been tweeting regularly here and there since then, but I didn't take it seriously and use it for my business and blog until probably the beginning of this year.  Growing a following has always been frustratingly slow for me.  From hosting Twitter giveaways to connecting it to my other social media accounts, nothing seemed to be helping me gain more followers. 

I eventually decided to give it a rest.  Not necessarily give up this whole Twitter thing, but more or less just stop worrying so much about having more followers.  Then one day, totally by accident, I discovered something major that helped me gain 100+ followers in 1 month.  That may not be a lot to some, but with me who had been on Twitter since 2009 and only had 300+ followers, gaining 100+ followers in just one month was huge.  It opened my eyes to a whole new side of Twitter and I gained a much better understanding for how the app works and how it should be used.  That being said, I've put together my top 3 tips (including my major discovery) to gaining more Twitter followers.

• Participate in Twitter Chats | This is my BIG discovery.  I had heard of Twitter chats before, but never really knew how they worked and what the purpose of them was.  I just thought you talked about a certain subject with a certain hashtag and it all led to a bunch of other people rambling about the same subject with the same hashtag. WRONG. Well, sort of.  You do talk about a certain topic with a certain hashtag, but there's someone who "hosts" the chat, takes control, and keeps the conversation going by asking specific questions regarding the topic all throughout the chat, which typically lasts about an hour.  It's basically like the coolest hangout with strangers who feel like friends that you'll ever go to, except it's online!  One night, I honestly am not even sure how I came about it, but I joined in on a Twitter chat called #fireworkpeople hosted by Ashley Beaudin (she's awesome, click her name now).  This one single hour chat literally opened my eyes to a whole new world that I never knew existed.  I met incredibly empowering women who are going through similar things as I am.  And get this - 99% of them are probably smack down in the middle of my target market!  Since my first Twitter chat about a month ago, I've joined in on nearly 10 others.  I already feel like the people I've met and the followers I've gained are going to be life-long friends and many will be future clients.  Seriously though, the connections I've made during Twitter chats are connections I feel like I couldn't have made anywhere else... and definitely not as quickly.  I'm sure you're more than ready to join in on the fun now!  Stay tuned to the end of this post for a list of some of my favorite #chats.
• Use Hashtags | Hashtags honestly annoyed the piss out of me when I first started using Twitter.  There were SO MANY #.  To me, people just seemed to add a # in front of every word just for the hell of it, not knowing the true purpose of them and probably not giving a damn.  But at some point I got past all that and took the time to learn more about hashtags and how they worked.  Now I find them nothing but incredibly awesome.  What I like to do is see what hashtags are trending, get involved on the ones that relate to me and my brand, and every once in awhile make up my own hashtag!  Just don't overdue it.  There is such a thing as being a hashtagaholic.  It gets overwhelming and it's less likely that people will take you seriously.  You DON'T always need to add a hashtag in every tweet and you DON'T need to have 5 hashtags in one single tweet.  Just be smart about it.  I promise if you do that, then you will benefit from them. 
• Give + You Will Receive |  This rule and tip can be applied to a million things when it comes to running your own business and/or blog, but today I'm going to tell you how this tip can help you gain more Twitter followers!  On Twitter, we often get caught up in our own tweets, only sharing with the world what we are up to, not caring about what everyone else is doing.  Cut that shit out.  The sooner the better!  I'm sure everyone would be happy to keep up to date with your daily tweets, retweet them, favorite them, and even reply - BUT you have to do the same for them.  Don't be shy!  During a Twitter chat and/or when you're checking out the trending hashtags, reply to a handful of tweets that you love and relate to.  I'm sure you have something insightful to say in return.  If not, maybe you just love the tweet, so retweet it (P.S. There is such thing as being a retweetaholic, too!).  Don't love it enough for it to be on your own feed?  Okay, no problem, you can favorite it.  Make friends.  Check out other profiles, go to their websites, read their blogs, let them know you think they are awesome.  I challenge you to spend 10 minutes a day replying to new Twitter friends.  Don't forget to follow them and chances are, they will follow back!

Some of my favorite Twitter #chats:

• #fireworkpeople Tuesday's at 9p ET
• #MillennialTalk Tuesday's at 8p ET
• #blisschat Thursday's at 9p ET
• #TipsyChat Tuesday's at 8:30p ET

Call to Action:

• First of all, I challenge you to use each and every one of these tips today and every day from here on out.  With the exception of Twitter chats, of course.  But try participating in one at least once a week! 
• Comment down below what your favorite tip is AND what your Twitter handle is!  If we don't already follow one another, then let's make that happen now.  My Twitter handle is @xoAliBee!