reaching your twitter tipping point

You created an account on twitter so you could connect with more blog readers or clients. So now what? How do you find your people? How do you create a community that is active and participatory?

I have finally started to find my people. My followers and my interactions on twitter are increasing at an impressive rate. In the 3 months that I have put this plan in action I have tripled my followers and my engagement stat is up 300% from the previous week. I am, without a doubt, on the right track. First thing I will tell you is it doesn’t happen over night. Second, it takes everyone a while even if it looks easy for them. There are a few things I think are key to making connections on twitter or any social media platform.

follow people and unfollow people with abandon
Follow people, then follow people they follow, and people that follow them….see where I am going? If you look at the people that are following a blogger you love you will uncover some like minded people. Follow them and see who they follow. This allows you to get to know them better and possibly find some other interesting people. If you follow them and what they are tweeting just isn’t doing it for you then by all means unfollow. No point having people in your feed that are making you aggravated. It is your feed and you are looking for your people and they should light you up not bring you down.

They aren’t all going to be your people, keep looking until you find the ones that make you jump up and down. The ones that you just can’t help but be you around. You will know them when you find them. Do remember that just because you love them doesn’t mean they will immediately see the connection and love you back. That is ok, it might mean they aren’t your people or it could take longer for that relationship to develop. Go slow this isn’t speed dating or sales. You are not trying to meet a quota. If you are trying to meet a quota I am not the person the help you.

participate
Let’s start by clarifying what participation looks like. It looks like engaging heartfelt comments. People want to know that you connected with what they put out there. If you connected with what they wrote then pay them with a quality comment that has specifics.

After you read a post from a blogger that is especially vulnerable don’t just leave them with a comment like, great post. That does nothing. For all they know you didn’t read it, and you just left some generic comment. Here is an example of what participation looks like in that situation, “Wow, that was a well written piece. I have have been through a similar thing and haven’t been able to put it into words. Thank you” (In case you are wondering, that is less that 140 characters)

be you
I know, could this be more generic advice? What I want you to take away from this is quite simple, and the reason it sounds generic. You should be trying to build relationships that will change and grow into other opportunities. You cannot do that by having surface level conversations. You are going to have to dig a little.

You are going to have to be a little vulnerable. I am not talking about sharing your most traumatic childhood memory with a virtual stranger. Think more along the lines of, if you love taylor swift quotes then tweet them. You can’t find your people by tweeting things solely because you think other people will like it. Same way you can’t find a boyfriend by just talking about the things he likes. You have to inject your personality in there. Tweet about the things you like.

Some people will love you and some will decide you aren’t for them. It is ok! With millions of people on the internet you can afford to be selective. If you have been using the above tips your people will find you. When they do it will feel like you have known them forever. If you have trouble getting off twitter now, just wait until you meet your social media soul mates.

don’t give up
Perseverance is important here. One comment doesn’t make a relationship, you will need to continue to connect with people so they can find out if you are their people.

Remember, this isn’t speed dating so don’t try to connect by commenting on their last 5 tweets. Take it slow and easy and comment on the ones that really resonate with you. Every word they type may not get your thumbs itching to type. You have to try them on for size while they try you on and both of you will have to decide if it is a good match. It may not be like speed dating but it is a lot like dating. Try not to be over zealous from the first tweet.

Keep up with all of that, you will hit your tipping point and find your people. They will comment and begin to seek you out. It will be extremely exciting. Tweet me when it happens and we will celebrate with a virtual high five!

The things that might bum you out

You took the time to reach out and participate and crickets…
I can’t explain to you why some people don’t feel recognizing your participation is the important and the polite thing to do. Let’s agree that we won’t be those people because it bums us out and move on.

Put out in the world what you want to get in return. If you want some participation then get out there and participate. If they respond to someone else and it bums you out/hurts your feelings maybe unfollow is in order. Maybe, they just aren’t worth your time. Maybe you need a better twitter bio. It could be a lot of things. What it isn’t, is a statement about your worth. You have value you just need to find your people. Let it go!

No one commented or liked my tweet…
There could be so many reasons why this happens. Let it go and do research. Did you post at the wrong time for your followers? Are you connected with the wrong people? What if you haven’t actually found your people so the followers you do have are scrolling by your tweets? Get an app like Buffer and do some research on which times and which tweets work best. Until then, Let it go!

If you are having trouble letting it go and need to vent Tweet me we can have a kleenex moment, rub some dirt on it and get you back in the game.

Want to get started right now, Tweet me and we can make that first connection that sets you on the road to your twitter tipping point.

Yours in laughter & tears,

because sharing just feels good...

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anne fassnacht